Analilia Mejia, facing the prospect of running in both the April special general election and the regularly scheduled June Democratic primary for the 11th congressional district, will have the support of nearly the entire New Jersey Democratic congressional delegation in both campaigns.
Seven members of the state’s House delegation – Reps. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), Herb Conaway (D-Delran), Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch), Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City), Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon), LaMonica McIver (D-Newark), and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) – said in a joint statement this afternoon that Mejia has their support in every election this year.
“Across New Jersey, our constituents are struggling with Donald Trump’s affordability crisis and watching in fear as their rights are stripped away,” the joint statement says. “Analilia Mejia is running for Congress to build an economy that works for working families, not just the billionaires and big corporations lining the Trump family’s pockets. As Democrats, we are united in the fight to protect our democracy and make life affordable again. That’s why we support Analilia in her forthcoming elections.”
Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim had previously put out a similar joint endorsement of Mejia earlier this week, saying that Democrats should “come together and unite behind a Democrat who will stand up for the 11th district.”
The one congressional Democrat missing from the list is moderate Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly), who has not yet issued an endorsement but said he plans on meeting with Mejia.
“Analilia and I have been in touch and I congratulated her on her win,” Gottheimer said. “I’m looking forward to sitting down with her and discussing issues important to Jersey and the families I represent.”
Following Mejia’s upset primary win last week against several better-funded opponents, Democrats have been coalescing behind her in the April special general election, when she’ll face GOP nominee Joe Hathaway in the Democratic-leaning seat. Perhaps her most prominent supporter in the special election is Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the district’s former congresswoman.
But the question of whether to proactively support Mejia in June, when she’ll face Democratic primary voters again for a full term in Congress, has proven to be a bit thornier, especially for moderate Democrats who take issue with some of Mejia’s progressive stances. One of her vanquished opponents from last week, former Lieutenant Gov. Tahesha Way, is considering whether to run again, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has warned that it may get involved in the race (after working to take down Tom Malinowski in the special primary).
Assuming Mejia wins the special election, she’ll join the Democratic minority in Washington, which could be in line to retake the majority in the fall. Mejia, though, told Axios earlier this week that she has not yet committed to voting for Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker: “I look forward to sharing my concerns,” she said.
At a press conference today, Jeffries said he’s not concerned that any Democrat will vote against him for speaker, and noted that he had a “very good conversation with [Mejia] two days ago.”
