TRENTON, N.J. (CN) - After Thursday's election, New Jersey's 11th Congressional District appeared to finally have a Democratic primary winner Tuesday, as former congressman Tom Malinowski conceded defeat to progressive Analilia Mejia.
The primary election was too close to call last week, with Malinowski initially pulling ahead but then gradually losing ground late that evening. With 93% of the vote tallied as of Tuesday, Mejia had solidified a tight but definite lead of a few hundred votes.
The final results were not expected until later in the week, but with most of the uncounted votes in areas thought to lean toward Mejia, Malinowski decided to concede.
"I congratulate Analilia Mejia on her hard won victory in the NJ-11 special primary," Malinowski said in a statement. "I look forward to supporting her in the April general election. It is essential that we send a Democrat to Washington to fill this seat, not a rubber stamp for Trump."
Mejia, an activist who has the backing of former boss Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, jokingly posted on X a picture of the infamous "Dewey Defeats Truman" photograph Thursday evening.
Malinowski, who had served two terms representing the 7th Congressional District, seemed the candidate to beat in the crowded Democratic primary. However, he also was the sole target of a blitz of negative ads over his failure to properly disclose stock trades while in Congress.
The ads were mainly sponsored by a group associated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which targeted Malinowski over statements he made favoring putting limits on aid to Israel. Mejia has criticized Israel for what she says was committing genocide in Gaza.
The truncated primary featured 10 other Democrats seeking to succeed Mikie Sherrill, who gave up her seat following her gubernatorial win last fall.
Mejia will face Republican Joe Hathaway, who ran unopposed in the primary, during the special election on April 16.
Hathaway, who serves as Randolph Township's mayor, announced his candidacy in October 2025 and has said he hopes the April primary staves off talk of a blue wave come November.
For more than three decades, the 11th Congressional District - which comprises slivers of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties - was considered reliably red. In 2018, Sherill flipped NJ-11 blue, handily beating opponent Jay Webber 57% to 42%. Her reelection in 2020 was much tighter, though after redistricting in 2022 Sherrill's margins of victory again widened.
Source: Courthouse News Service
