In NJ special election, it’s not the left that’s divided

In the upcoming special election for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, which is likely a safe seat for Democrats, progressives quickly united around a single candidate, while the party establishment has been fractured by internal divisions. It’s a reversal of sorts of the familiar pattern in which left-wing infighting inhibits unity while Democratic moderates coalesce around a party insider.

This seat in suburban North Jersey is open because fourth-term Rep. Mikie Sherrill was elected governor in November and took office in January. There are 11 Democrats vying to replace her in the primary on Feb. 5, with the winner a heavy favorite to win the seat in April’s special election. (Only one Republican is running, local mayor Joe Hathaway.) 

Strikingly, local Democratic power brokers have been unable or unwilling to unite behind a single candidate. Former New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is backing Brendan Gill, a county commissioner in Essex County, on the more urban eastern edge of the district. That’s a bit awkward, since former Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, also seen as close to Murphy, is also running. Furthermore, neither of them looks to be the leading moderate in the race. That’s probably former Rep. Tom Malinowski, who served two terms in Congress from the neighboring 7th district before losing the seat in 2022. He’s raised more money than either Gill or Way, and has the backing of U.S. Sen. Andy Kim. 

Compare that to the nearly unified progressive support behind Analilia Mejia, a longtime political organizer and former staffer for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. As that pedigree might suggest, Mejia has garnered support from a wide range of local and national figures on the Democratic left, including Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Newark mayor Ras Baraka. 

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This remarkable progressive unity may reflect what some on the left describe as the “Mamdani moment,” reflecting the lessons of last year’s New York City mayoral campaign, in which Zohran Mamdani and his main progressive rival, City Comptroller Brad Lander, cross-endorsed each other in the campaign against former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Four years earlier, bitter divisions among a number of progressive candidates were perceived as enabling moderate Eric Adams to win the 2021 mayoral election.

Along with endorsements from major progressive political leaders, Mejia has also secured support from major unions, including the 1199 Service Employees International Union and Communications Workers of America Local 1037. 

Union reps told Salon that this is partly because of Mejia’s worker-friendly platform, which includes supporting Medicare for All as well as a proposal to make the first $40,000 in wages free of federal income tax, but also reflects her personal history as a longtime organizer in New Jersey.

Ana Maria Hill, the vice president of 32BJ SEIU, told Salon that endorsing Mejia was an easy choice for her members, since Mejia had served as a political director at the union and already understood its priorities.

Mejia “spoke to members of Spanish, and in English,” Hill said, “which is always such a good moment, because our members are bilingual. … She shared stories about when she was at BJ, it was practically a home run for her. Our members voted unilaterally to endorse her and made that recommendation to the executive board.” 

Mejia also won the endorsement of the Working Families Party, which generally supports progressive Democrats. That also was no surprise, since she was executive director of the New Jersey WFP before joining Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign. “Even in a bitterly cold winter primary, there is a lot of energy on the ground” behind Mejia, said Antoinette Miles, the party’s current state director. “Analilia just represents something that is so different than what is traditionally been represented here in New Jersey.”

This crowded race features “a lot of candidates that are not from the New Jersey establishment,” Miles agreed, “but there is a political machine here that is trying to push their candidate forward. And I think that people in New Jersey feel that this moment requires something different.”

Mejia has raised $420,000 and has a robust volunteer effort behind her, but in fundraising terms, is well behind Malinowski (who has raised $1.1 million), as well as Gill and venture capitalist Zachary Beecher, another Democrat in the race. 

There has been no public polling leading into this week’s primary, so it’s unclear where candidates actually stand.

The primary will also be one of the first elections in which New Jersey’s “county line” system is no longer in place. Previously,  candidates endorsed by a given county’s party committee would receive preferential ballot placement, while those without such an endorsement were banished to what critics called “ballot Siberia.”

For the first time, candidates will now be grouped on ballots based on the office that they’re seeking, rather than by county endorsement. The county line system was long opposed by left-leaning Democrats and reformers, and Miles explained that this election offers an early test of the new system.

“This is the first midterm election, the first congressional election, after this monumental opening of our democracy,” she said. “That offers the opportunity for progressive unions and organizations to unite around the candidates that we see as a part of our movement, whereas before the Democrats would essentially choose the nominee before Election Day would even happen.”

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