Ballot box shocker: Progressive backed by Sanders, AOC on verge of upset in Dem congressional primary

A progressive candidate backed by champions of the left, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is close to pulling off an upset victory with votes still being counted in a Democratic congressional primary for a blue-leaning seat in New Jersey.

Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer, has a slight lead - 486 votes out of more than 61,000 counted - over former Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski in the battle for their party's nomination in New Jersey's 11th Congressional District.

Mejia and Malinowski are the leaders among a field of 11 Democratic candidates in the race to fill the seat left vacant after now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped down after winning November's gubernatorial election in the Garden State.

" I do think that we have emerged victorious, but I want to first make sure that every voter, every voter's voice is heard," Mejia said Friday at a news conference.

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Thursday's primary was closely watched by Democrats as an early testing ground in the debate between progressives versus the more mainstream elements of the party.

And a victory by Mejia, who worked as political director on Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign, would be another major boost for the left against the establishment.

She told supporters on primary night, "We have to rebuild our party, we have to rebuild what is happening in our nation. We have to reclaim our democracy. We know that our economy is rigged to suit the billionaires."

And Mejia, who during her primary campaign took aim at President Donald Trump's unprecedented crackdown on illegal immigration, reiterated on Friday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency most visible in the aggressive tactics used in the administration's massive deportation effort, "is completely overreaching."

"I think the fact that I was bold and unafraid to speak the truth was incredibly important. I think voters feel that they want to have a representative that actually represents them, and they cannot watch what's happening in Minnesota, what happened in Chicago, what happened in California, what happened in Morristown across this district," she told reporters.

Malinowski, an assistant secretary of state in former President Barack Obama's administration who later represented a neighboring congressional district in northern New Jersey from 2018 to 2022 before losing re-election, was considered the front-runner in the race heading into primary day.

But Malinowski was the target of a slew of attack ads put out by a group affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which opposed Malinowski because he said he supports conditions on aid to Israel.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) jumped the gun on Thursday night, congratulating Malinowski in an email release.

"Tonight, Democrat Tom Malinowski clinched victory in the New Jersey District 11 special election Democratic primary," the DNC's release read.

Later in the evening, after taking a slight lead in the vote count over Malinowski, Meija put out a social media post showing the famous photo of then-President Harry Truman, during his 1948 election victory, holding up a newspaper with the erroneous banner headline: "Dewey Defeats Truman."

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) a leading group on the left, said in a statement that "Analilia Mejia's momentous showing proves that voters, when given a choice, want Democrats with an inspiring vision who will boldly challenge powerful interests on behalf of working families."

"This is the second big congressional primary in two weeks where voters chose the more progressive candidate and made clear they want Democrats who will shake up a broken political and economic system - not just be anti-Trump,' added PCCC co-founder Adam Green, a New Jersey native who knocked doors for Mejia and spoke at a rally with Mejia and Sanders on primary eve.

The winner will face off with Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, the only Republican to file for the special election, which will be held on April 16.

Hathaway will be considered the underdog in the race.

Sherrill won re-election in the district in 2024 by 15 points, the same margin by which she carried the district in November's gubernatorial showdown.

But then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by just eight points in the 2024 presidential election, giving the GOP some hopes of possibly flipping the seat.

The special election comes as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218-214 majority in the House of Representatives.

But the GOP may land a reinforcement in 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 on March 10 in Georgia's solidly red 14th Congressional District, in the race to succeed former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. The MAGA firebrand and one-time top Trump House ally in early January stepped away from Congress a year before her term ended.

A whopping 22 candidates, including 17 Republicans, are running in the Georgia showdown.

According to Georgia state law, all the candidates will run on the same ballot. If no contender tops 50% of the vote, a runoff election between the top two finishers will take place on April 7.

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Trump on Wednesday endorsed Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Clay Fuller, a Republican, in the race.

Greene won re-election in 2024 to the seat by nearly 30 points, and Trump carried the district, which is located in northwest Georgia, by 37 points.

There's one more vacant seat in Congress, in California's 1st Congressional District, following the recent unexpected death of Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa.

A primary in the race to fill LaMalfa's seat will be held on June 2, which is primary day in California. And the special general election will be held on Aug. 4.

The district, in northeastern California, is solidly Republican.

Fox News' Paul Conner contributed to this story