By Jim Ellis — Friday, February 6, 2026
NJ-11 Special Primary
Candidate Analilia Mejia, former Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) staff member, currently leads the NJ-11 Democratic primary race by a slim 486 votes.
The race is still too close to call. With approximately 6,000 votes remaining to be counted, a close finish is unfolding between political activist and former Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) staff member Analilia Mejia and former Congressman Tom Malinowski. At this writing, Mejia leads Malinowski by 486 votes.
The Democratic race was split among 11 candidates with outside funding coming in for and against several, thus splitting the vote among the top four finishers.
Former 7th District Congressman Tom Malinowski, who lost his seat in 2022 to current Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield), led in the early part of the night until Mejia overtook him. Malinowski was under heavy attack for his stock transactions during his first two-term stint in the House, which may have cost him the primary election. Immigration and opposing the Trump Administration were the focal points of much of the political advertising.
Former Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, who benefited from a Super PAC dedicated to supporting Lieutenant Governor candidates, is third, and Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, who had former Gov. Phil Murphy’s support, is taking a disappointing fourth since he was projected to finish higher.
With the ballots spread among so many candidates, a 486-vote lead looks larger within a universe of about 6,000 outstanding votes than it would if only two individuals were involved. It appears more of the remaining uncounted ballots come from Essex County where Mejia was strongest. Therefore, barring a stronger final push from Malinowski in Morris County where he is leading, the most likely outcome is Mejia holding on to claim the primary victory.
The eventual official Democratic winner now advances to the special general election where he or she will face Randolph Township Mayor Joe Hathaway who was unopposed in last night’s Republican primary.
The Garden State’s 11th District lies in northern New Jersey and contains parts of Essex, Morris, and Passaic counties. The major population centers are the cities of Morristown, Broomfield, and Montclair.
According to the Dave’s Redistricting App statisticians, the district’s partisan lean favors the Democrats by a 55.6D – 42.5R count. Kamala Harris carried the district with a 53.3 – 44.6 percent margin over President Trump. Therefore, the eventual Democratic winner is viewed as a heavy favorite for the April 16 special general election.
It remains to be seen if the Republicans will spend serious money in the special general if Mejia, a Sanders-Zohran Mamdani Democratic Socialist candidate, pulls through as now expected.
GA-11
Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), saying that holding a congressional seat is a service and not a career, announced that he will not seek a 7th term in the House later this year.
Prior to being elected to Congress in 2014, Loudermilk served a total of eight years in the Georgia legislature. Over his six congressional elections, Loudermilk averaged a 69.6 percent voter support level.
A total of 55 House seats are open for the next election, including three currently in a special election cycle. Now, 31 of the open seats come from the Republican column, 19 from the Democratic side, and an additional five new seats have been created on new redistricting maps in California and Texas. Loudermilk is the 20th member who is opting to retire from elective politics. The remainder are running for a different office.
The open 11th District will remain in Republican hands, and a crowded GOP field will soon form. According to the Dave’s Redistricting App statisticians, the district partisan lean favors Republicans, 62.1R – 35.5D. In 2024, President Trump defeated Kamala Harris here, 61.2 – 37.9 percent.
Georgia’s 11th CD lies northwest of Atlanta and contains some of the city’s outer suburbs. The district’s voting age population is 30.6 percent minority. It contains Barlow, Gordon, and Pickens counties, along with parts of Cherokee and Cobb counties. The district’s largest population centers are the cities of Marietta and Cartersville.
