2026 New Jersey's 11th congressional district special election

A special election will be held on April 16, 2026, to fill the vacant seat in New Jersey's 11th congressional district. The winner will serve in the United States House of Representatives for the remainder of the 119th United States Congress.

Source: Wikipedia

Article

2026 New Jersey's 11th congressional district special election

The seat became vacant on November 20, 2025, when Mikie Sherrill resigned to become the governor of New Jersey. Outgoing governor Phil Murphy announced the special election scheduled for April 16, 2026. Early voting for the general election will take place during a nine-day period (April 6 to April 14). Voters will have the option to cast their votes by mail.

Primary elections were held on February 5, 2026. Analilia Mejia, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy, won the Democratic nomination. Randolph councilman and former mayor Joe Hathaway was uncontested and thus won the Republican nomination.

Democratic primary

Campaign

Spending by AIPAC against former U.S. Representative Tom Malinowski became a major issue in the primary. Although Malinowski identified as a pro-Israel Democrat, the group funded negative advertising after he declined to unconditionally support foreign military aid. The ads may have inadvertently boosted eventual nominee Analilia Mejia, who has accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Following his defeat, Malinowski sharply criticized AIPAC, calling its campaign “dishonest” and pledging to oppose any AIPAC-backed challenger to Mejia in the June primary for the full term.

Mejia has called for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and has advocated resistance to what she describes as “rising authoritarianism.”

The Associated Press and The New York Times called the race for Mejia on February 12, 2026, defeating Malinowski and former Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way.

Nominee

• Analilia Mejia, co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy

Eliminated in primary

• John Bartlett, Passaic County commissioner and candidate for this district in (/wiki/2018UnitedStatesHouseofRepresentativeselectionsinNewJersey#District11) • Zach Beecher, venture capitalist • J-L Cauvin, attorney and comedian • Cammie Croft, nonprofit executive and former White House deputy new media director • Brendan Gill, at-large Essex County commissioner, husband of state assemblymember Alixon Collazos-Gill, and candidate for New Jersey's 27th assembly district in (/wiki/2023NewJerseyGeneralAssemblyelection#District27) • Jeff Grayzel, deputy mayor of Morris Township and nominee for New Jersey's 25th senate district in (/wiki/2021NewJerseySenateelection#District25) • Tom Malinowski, former chair of the Hunterdon County Democratic Party (2024–2025) and former U.S. representative from the 7th district (2019–2023) • Justin Strickland, Chatham Borough councilmember • Tahesha Way, former lieutenant governor (2023–2026) and secretary of state of New Jersey (2018–2026) • Anna Lee Williams, corporate social responsibility manager

Withdrawn

• Marc Chaaban, former congressional staffer (remained on ballot, endorsed Mejia) • Dean Dafis, Maplewood Township committeeman and former mayor (remained on ballot, endorsed Gill)

Disqualified

• Donald Cresitello, former mayor of Morristown (1977–1981, 2006–2010) and candidate for U.S. Senate in (/wiki/1982UnitedStatesSenateelectioninNewJersey) and (/wiki/2008UnitedStatesSenateelectioninNewJersey)

Did not file

• Kennedy Pivnick, former legal intern at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Declined

• Matthew Platkin, attorney general of New Jersey (2022–2026)

County conventions

Democratic county party endorsements Gill Malinowski Co-endorsement of Bartlett and Way

Fundraising

<table><thead><tr><th>Campaign finance reports as of January 16, 2026</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Candidate</td><td>Raised</td><td>Spent</td><td>Cash on hand</td></tr><tr><td>John Bartlett (D)</td><td>$465,705</td><td>$394,510</td><td>$260,855</td></tr><tr><td>Zach Beecher (D)</td><td>$504,638</td><td>$293,417</td><td>$211,221</td></tr><tr><td>J-L Cauvin (D)</td><td>$100,000</td><td>$30,896</td><td>$69,103</td></tr><tr><td>Cammie Croft (D)</td><td>$372,317</td><td>$239,229</td><td>$133,088</td></tr><tr><td>Brendan Gill (D)</td><td>$808,103</td><td>$460,108</td><td>$347,995</td></tr><tr><td>Jeff Grayzel (D)</td><td>$428,173</td><td>$351,604</td><td>$76,569</td></tr><tr><td>Tom Malinowski (D)</td><td>$1,161,127</td><td>$756,929</td><td>$404,197</td></tr><tr><td>Analilia Mejia (D)</td><td>$420,218</td><td>$62,097</td><td>$358,120</td></tr><tr><td>Justin Strickland (D)</td><td>$70,012</td><td>$67,836</td><td>$2,175</td></tr><tr><td>Tahesha Way (D)</td><td>$404,541</td><td>$319,178</td><td>$85,363</td></tr><tr><td>Anna Lee Williams (D)</td><td>$26,422</td><td>$18,249</td><td>$8,172</td></tr><tr><td>Source: Federal Election Commission</td></tr></tbody></table>

Polling

<table><thead><tr><th>Poll source</th><th>Date(s) administered</th><th>Sample size</th><th>Margin of error</th><th>Brendan Gill</th><th>Tom Malinowski</th><th>Analilia Mejia</th><th>Tahesha Way</th><th>Other</th><th>Undecided</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>GQR Research (D)</td><td>November 19–23, 2025</td><td>400 (LV)</td><td>± 5.4%</td><td>12%</td><td>28%</td><td>5%</td><td>5%</td><td>19%</td><td>31%</td></tr></tbody></table>

Results

<table><thead><tr><th>Party</th><th>Candidate</th><th>Votes</th><th>%</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td>Democratic</td><td>Analilia Mejia</td><td>19,789</td><td>29.33</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Democratic</td><td>Tom Malinowski</td><td>18,603</td><td>27.57</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Democratic</td><td>Tahesha Way</td><td>11,737</td><td>17.40</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Democratic</td><td>Brendan Gill</td><td>9,556</td><td>14.16</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Democratic</td><td>John Bartlett</td><td>1,825</td><td>2.71</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Democratic</td><td>Justin Strickland</td><td>1,391</td><td>2.06</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Democratic</td><td>Jeff Grayzel</td><td>1,311</td><td>1.94</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Democratic</td><td>Zach Beecher</td><td>1,310</td><td>1.94</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Democratic</td><td>Cammie Croft</td><td>719</td><td>1.07</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Democratic</td><td>Anna Lee Williams</td><td>528</td><td>0.78</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Democratic</td><td>J-L Cauvin</td><td>293</td><td>0.43</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Democratic</td><td>Dean Dafis (withdrawn)</td><td>280</td><td>0.42</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Democratic</td><td>Marc Chaaban (withdrawn)</td><td>123</td><td>0.18</td></tr><tr><td>Total votes</td><td>67,465</td><td>100.00</td></tr></tbody></table>

Republican primary

Nominee

• Joe Hathaway, Randolph Township Council member and former mayor

Fundraising

Results

<table><thead><tr><th>Party</th><th>Candidate</th><th>Votes</th><th>%</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td>Republican</td><td>Joe Hathaway</td><td>14,616</td><td>100.00</td></tr><tr><td>Total votes</td><td>14,616</td><td>100.00</td></tr></tbody></table>

General election

Predictions

<table><thead><tr><th>Source</th><th>Ranking</th><th>As of</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Sabato's Crystal Ball</td><td>Safe D</td><td>December 14, 2025</td></tr></tbody></table>

Debates and forums

<table><thead><tr><th>No.</th><th>Date</th><th>Host</th><th>Moderator</th><th>Link</th><th>Democratic</th><th>Republican</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Key: P Participant A Absent N Non-invitee I Invitee W Withdrawn</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Mejia</td><td>Hathway</td></tr><tr><td>1</td><td>April 1, 2026</td><td>New Jersey Globe The Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University</td><td>Joey Fox</td><td>YouTube C-SPAN</td><td>P</td><td>P</td></tr></tbody></table>

Polling

<table><thead><tr><th>Poll source</th><th>Date(s) administered</th><th>Sample size</th><th>Margin of error</th><th>Analilia Mejia (D)</th><th>Joe Hathaway (R)</th><th>Undecided</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>GBAO (D)</td><td>March 8–10, 2026</td><td>500 (LV)</td><td>± 4.4%</td><td>53%</td><td>36%</td><td>11%</td></tr></tbody></table>