New Jersey election results: Progressive on verge of upset in Dem primary
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Progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. and Rep. A far-left candidate supported by. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezDN.Y is close to an upset victory in the Democratic congressional primary for a blue-leaning seat in New Jersey, with votes still being counted.
Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer, holds a slight lead over former Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski in the fight for her party’s nomination in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, with 486 votes out of 61,000 counted.
Mejia and Malinowski lead the 11 Democratic candidates vying to fill the seat left vacant by the current Governor. Mikie Sherrill resigned after winning the November gubernatorial election in the Garden State.
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Congressional candidate Analilia Mejia is seen speaking to supporters and members of the media at Paper Plane Coffee Co. in Montclair, NJ. Mejia is one of 11 Democrats running to fill the House seat vacated by current Gov. Mikie Sherrill. (Heather Khalifa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But Malinowski, who was assistant secretary of state in former President Barack Obama’s administration and later represented a neighboring congressional district in northern New Jersey from 2018 to 2022 before losing re-election, was a front-runner in the race heading into the primary.
The winner will face Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, the only Republican to file for an April 16 special election.
January 15, 2026; Caldwell, NJ, USA; Tom Malinowski during a meet-and-greet hosted by the League of Women Voters at Caldwell University with candidates running for the Democratic nomination to fill the Congressional seat vacated by Gov. Mikie Sherrill. (Michael Karas/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
The special election comes as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218-214 majority in the House.
Hathaway will be considered the underdog in the race.
Sherrill won re-election in the district by 15 points in 2024; That was the same margin he won the district in November’s gubernatorial showdown.
New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill resigned her seat in the House of Representatives in November after winning the Garden State gubernatorial election. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
But then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by just eight points in the 2024 presidential election, giving the GOP some hope that she could possibly flip the seat.
The GOP could send reinforcements to the House before the general election for the open seat in New Jersey is held.
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That’s because a special election is scheduled for March 10 in Georgia’s red 14th Congressional District in the race to replace former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The MAGA firebrand and onetime Trump House top ally left Congress in early January, a year before the end of his term.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia resigned her seat in Congress in early January, a year before the end of her term. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
There are 22 candidates running in the Georgia showdown, 17 of whom are Republicans.
According to Georgia state law, all candidates will compete on the same ballot. If no candidate receives 50 percent of the votes, a second round of elections between the top two candidates will be held on April 7.
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Trump endorsed Republican Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Clay Fuller in the race on Wednesday.
While Greene was re-elected in 2024 and took the seat with a difference of approximately 30 points, Trump carried the region in northwest Georgia by 37 points.
Rep. Doug LaMalfa, a California Republican who represented a district in the northeastern part of the state, died in early January. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Following the recent unexpected death of Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa, another seat in Congress remains vacant in California’s 1st Congressional District.
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The primary in the race to fill LaMalfa’s seat will be held on June 2, which is primary election day in California. The special general election will be held on August 4.
The region in northeastern California is solidly Republican.
