What N.J.’s primary election says about the state of Democrats : NPR

Eleven Democrats are vying to be the next representative from New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District in a special primary election on Thursday. The winner of the Democratic primary will go on to face the lone Republican, Randolph Township Mayor Joe Hathaway, in the special general election in April.

Mikie Sherrill resigned from the seat shortly after she won the state’s gubernatorial election last November.

The special primary contest is one of the first congressional primaries of the year where we will find out what issues are currently resonating with some Democratic voters. Here are some key things to know about the contest:

1. A labor activist is seeking to upend the race 

Analilia Mejia, director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, has been endorsed by several progressive groups and politicians including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Locally, she has received the endorsement of Ras Baraka, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey’s largest city.

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, campaigned alongside Mejia in January at an event at William Paterson University.

“In a moment of rising authoritarianism, of economic insecurity, of state-sanctioned violence, any old blue just won’t do,” Meijia said at the event with Sanders. “If you send weak sauce to Congress, we will get weak sauce back.”

Meijia also called for ICE to be abolished at the event.

“You can’t reform that. It’s not fixable,” she said. “Get it out. Kick it over. It is done. Forget it.”

2. A former congressman, from another district, is aiming for a political comeback

Former Rep. Tom Malinowski, has the backing of New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim.

In a video, Kim said he cited Malinowski’s experience among his reasons.

“Tom Malinowski knows the House of Representatives. He knows Congress. He knows New Jersey,” Kim said. “He knows how to be able to stand up to Donald Trump, and that’s what I need right now is someone there as a partner with me in the Capitol.”

Malinowski represented a neighboring congressional district for two terms. Redistricting made his district more Republican, which factored in his loss to Republican Rep. Tom Kean Jr. in 2022.

The fact that voters may already be familiar with his work as a former congressman is an important factor in this race, says Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.

“With a short runway of a special election – name recognition, money, experience – all can matter,” he said.

In addition to Malinowski and Mejia, other candidates on the ballot are: former Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, Passaic County Commissioner John W. Bartlett, venture capitalist Zach Beecher, attorney and comedian J-L Cauvin, former Obama administration staffer Cammie Croft, Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, Morris Township Deputy Mayor Jeff Grayzel, Chatham Borough Council member Justin Strickland and community advocate Anna Lee Williams.

3. Immigration is taking center stage 

Following the fatal shootings of Nicole Macklin Good and Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minnesota, immigration enforcement has become a focal point in the New Jersey contest.The special election primary will be one of the first races this year showing whether a far-left message on the future of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is resonating with Democratic voters – or if they prefer a more moderate approach.

At a recent forum hosted by AAPI New Jersey, the 11 Democratic candidates ranged in their responses to ICE tactics, saying either that the powers of the agency need to be limited, or the agency should be abolished outright.”Budgets are supposed to be about values,” said Way, adding that ICE is not being held true to the country’s values. “As a congresswoman, I will definitely look at this budget and, of course, be open to defund it.”

Beecher said he would be a champion of “getting rid of ICE.”

The forum also addressed affordability issues, which remains a concern among residents. It is an issue that Sherrill campaigned on during her run for governor, as New Jersey continues to be a state with a high cost of living.

4. There are regional implications tied to this election

The district includes many residents who commute regularly to New York.

Mikie Sherrill, then a congressional lawmaker running for New Jersey governor, speaks to commuters at a train station where she addressed the Gateway Tunnel Project on Oct. 30, 2025 in Westfield, N.J.

Spencer Platt/Getty Images

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Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Rasmussen, at Rider University, said the winner of the general election in April will immediately have to address funding for the Gateway tunnel project. The $16 billion project includes the building of a new, two-tube rail tunnel beneath the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and Manhattan and rehabilitation of the North River Tunnel, which has been in service since 1910.

Billions of federal dollars for the project were frozen by the Trump administration last October. A lawsuit against the administration was filed Tuesday.

“It was one of the biggest priorities that was a hallmark of Mikie Sherrill’s time in Congress,” Rasmussen said. While in Congress, Sherrill helped secure federal funding for the project. “There’s a widespread perception that whoever fills Mikie Sherill’s seat, this is going to be front and center in their lap.”

When Sherrill was elected to the seat in 2018, she flipped a district that had been reliably Republican for decades. Since new maps took effect in 2022 following redistricting, the district has become more Democratic.