2026年4月16日 20:13:04 EDT / 福克斯新闻
梅希亚曾是桑德斯竞选团队工作人员，同样获得奥卡西奥-科特兹背书，在该郊区选区击败共和党候选人乔·哈撒韦
作者：保罗·施泰因豪泽 福克斯新闻
发布于2026年4月16日 晚8:13 EDT
民主党国会候选人阿纳利莉亚·梅希亚表示，此次胜利将证明“人民的力量能够扭转乾坤”
民主党国会候选人阿纳利莉亚·梅希亚将填补因米基·谢里尔辞职出任州长而空出的新泽西州第11选区席位。
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共和党人试图翻转新泽西州北部一个倾向民主党的选区的空缺席位，但差距悬殊。
据美联社报道，得到进步派领袖、佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯和邻近纽约州众议员亚历山德里亚·奥卡西奥-科特兹背书的民主党人阿纳利莉亚·梅希亚，在周四新泽西州第11国会选区的特别选举中，以压倒性优势击败共和党候选人乔·哈撒韦。选举结果在东部时间晚8点投票结束后数分钟就出炉。
凭借此次胜利，梅希亚将完成州长米基·谢里尔剩余八个月的任期。这位民主党众议员去年11月在赢得新泽西州州长选举后辞去了国会职务。
此次特别选举之际，共和党正勉强维持着脆弱的众议院多数党地位。共和党本应乐于拿下这个席位，但要翻转这个郊区选区却面临极大阻碍——谢里尔在2024年连任选举中以15个百分点的优势胜出，并且在去年的州长选举中也以大致相同的优势拿下该选区。
2026年民主进程：随时关注福克斯新闻选举中心
新泽西州州长米基·谢里尔今年1月就职后不久签署了第12号行政命令，限制州内某些移民执法活动。(爱德华多·穆诺兹·阿尔瓦雷斯/盖蒂图片社)
民主党全国委员会主席肯·马丁在祝贺梅希亚获胜时表示，她的“草根竞选活动打动了辛勤工作的新泽西州家庭。我知道她将为降低生活成本、保护医疗保健、直面负担能力危机而奋斗。”
梅希亚是一名进步派组织者，曾在2020年桑德斯总统竞选活动中担任全国政治主任。她在2月的民主党初选中爆冷胜出，在11名候选人组成的参选阵容中，以微弱优势击败了更为温和的对手、前众议员汤姆·马林诺夫斯基。尽管梅希亚是党内左翼阵营的明确选择，但其他候选人似乎分散了温和派和中左翼选民的选票。
她的初选胜利是左翼对抗建制派的又一次推动，此前纽约市民主党市长佐赫兰·曼达尼2025年6月在民主党初选中获胜，曾在全国引发震动。
哈撒韦曾任伦道夫镇镇长，现任市议员，在共和党国会提名竞选中无对手。他试图将梅希亚描绘成对该选区来说过于激进。他告诉福克斯新闻数字频道，选民的选择是“在一位务实、有常识的独立领导人——他在新泽西州地方层面取得了成就，了解当地议题——与一位纯粹依靠意识形态、极左翼意识形态、‘ Squad’背书意识形态参选的人之间做出抉择”。
进步派再次击败民主党温和派，桑德斯-奥卡西奥-科特兹盟友即将进入国会
阿纳利莉亚·梅希亚在特别选举中获得民主党提名，将角逐接替新当选州长米基·谢里尔空出的众议院席位。(希瑟·哈利法/彭博社/盖蒂图片社)
梅希亚最近与马林诺夫斯基共同出席了一场市政厅会议，并于周日与谢里尔一同在竞选活动中亮相，旨在团结民主党选民——该选区民主党选民登记人数占据显著优势。谢里尔是一名温和派民主党人，在2018年国会选举中翻转了这个选区。
哈撒韦声称梅希亚试图“稍微隐藏”一下“她的一些言论”，因为她知道这些政策完全脱离实际，但这骗不了选民，当然也骗不了我们。”
犹太选民是该选区选民的关键群体，哈撒韦在特别选举的唯一一场辩论中，指责梅希亚存在反犹主义倾向，指出她曾称以色列在加沙实施种族灭绝。
“她指责以色列对哈马斯10月7日的袭击负责，”哈撒韦说，“我认为该选区的犹太民众，无论共和党还是民主党，都非常害怕这种言论。”
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6393040941112
哈撒韦表示：“我接触过的犹太社区成员中，有很多人这辈子从未投过共和党，但这次会投票给我。这表明了犹太社区对这场选举的重视程度，以及他们与梅希亚……及其政见并不一致。”
梅希亚承诺“保护犹太选民的权利”，并表示她对以色列在加沙行动的批评不应与反犹主义混为一谈。
在给福克斯新闻数字频道的一份声明中，梅希亚说：“乔·哈撒韦无法区分对政府或政府官员的批评与偏执，这既令人不安，又同样令人作呕。”
梅希亚上周在社交媒体上写道，在得到自由派亲以色列政治团体J Street PAC的背书后，她“深感荣幸”。但她接受该背书引发了左翼的反对，北新泽西州民主社会主义者组织称她的这一举动是“变节”。
在努力争取无党派选民和民主党选民的过程中，哈撒韦指出了他与总统唐纳德·特朗普的共识与分歧——特朗普在2024年总统选举中以8个百分点的差距输掉了该选区。
共和党获胜，但民主党在特朗普票仓的投票箱热潮中也宣称胜利
2026年4月13日，新泽西州伦道夫市，新泽西州第11选区国会特别选举的共和党候选人乔·哈撒韦和民主党候选人阿纳利莉亚·梅希亚的竞选标语。(保罗·施泰因豪泽/福克斯新闻)
“我永远会将这个选区的利益放在首位。我已经明确表示：如果总统的举措对本选区有利，比如提高州和地方税减免上限，让民众的钱包更鼓，尤其是对新泽西州来说，这里的生活负担已经非常沉重；如果我们在边境安全方面采取行动，减少芬太尼导致的死亡人数，就像我们在社区中看到的那样，这些都是好事，我支持这些政策。”哈撒韦说。
“但另一方面，如果总统的举措不符合本选区的最佳利益，我的职责就是提出反对，而我也确实做到了这一点。”
哈撒韦指出，特朗普去年取消了哈德逊河下连接新泽西州和纽约州的新铁路隧道项目Gateway计划的数十亿美元联邦资金，以及总统计划削减位于新泽西州的一个陆军基地的约1000个工作岗位和近10亿美元资金。
“我会在这场选举中秉公评判。我不会成为任何人的橡皮图章，”哈撒韦说。
“我认为我们掌握了正确的策略，能够组建正确的两党联盟，在4月16日赢得这场选举。”
2026年4月13日，新泽西州伦道夫市，共和党国会候选人乔·哈撒韦在伦道夫 diner 与选民交流。(保罗·施泰因豪泽/福克斯新闻)
但哈撒韦最终未能成功，考虑到共和党面临的艰难政治环境，以及在野党通常面临的传统逆风。
梅希亚多次将哈撒韦与特朗普和国会共和党人联系在一起。
“‘让美国再次伟大’的共和党人通过极端政策推高了日常成本，而我的对手正是支持这些政策的。医疗保健和关键项目被削减，只是为了给超级富豪提供税收减免。我们承受不起国会再出现一个支持特朗普的议员，”她在最近的一条社交媒体帖子中写道。
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费尔利·狄金森大学政治学教授、民调专家丹·卡西诺称，哈撒韦争取跨党派民主党选民的希望“是白日做梦”。
“民主党整体似乎并不愿意与特朗普寻求共同点，”卡西诺在周一表示，他预测特别选举中的大多数选民都是坚定的党派支持者。
“民主党选民的投票率极高，而共和党选民的投票率目前低迷。”
哈撒韦周四晚间在一份声明中表示，他预计11月将与梅希亚再次对决：“我仍然认为新泽西州第11选区的广大选民正在寻求平衡、务实的领导，而非梅希亚女士所支持的极左翼政策。这场讨论尚未结束。”
保罗·施泰因豪泽是总部位于摇摆州新罕布什尔州的政治记者，他全程报道各地竞选活动。
Bernie Sanders, AOC-backed Democrat wins key House race; GOP fails to expand fragile majority
2026-04-16 20:13:04 EDT / Fox News
Mejia, a former Sanders campaign staffer also backed by AOC, defeated GOP candidate Joe Hathaway in the suburban district
By Paul Steinhauser Fox News
Published April 16, 2026 8:13pm EDT
Democratic congressional candidate Analilia Mejia says a victory would show ‘that people power can deliver the day’
Democratic congressional candidate Analilia Mejia ran to fill the seat in New Jersey’s 11th District left vacant when Mikie Sherrill stepped down to become governor.
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Republicans fell far short in their bid to flip a vacant U.S. House seat in a blue-leaning district in northern New Jersey.
Democrat Analilia Mejia, who was backed by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of neighboring New York, convincingly defeated GOP candidate Joe Hathaway in Thursday’s special election in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, The Associated Press reported. The race was called minutes after the polls closed at 8pm ET.
With her victory, Mejia will fill the final eight months of the term of Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic representative who stepped down from Congress in November after winning New Jersey’s gubernatorial election.
The special election came as the GOP clings to a fragile House majority. Republicans would have relished the opportunity to pick up the seat, but they faced a steep uphill climb to flip the suburban district Sherrill won by 15 points in her 2024 re-election and carried by roughly the same margin in last year’s gubernatorial election.
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New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed Executive Order 12 restricting certain immigration enforcement activities on state property shortly after taking office in January.(Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, in congratulating Mejia on her victory, said her “grassroots campaign spoke to hardworking New Jersey families. I know she’ll fight to lower costs, protect health care, and tackle the affordability crisis head-on.”
Mejia, a progressive organizer who served as national political director on the 2020 Sanders presidential campaign, pulled off an upset in the February Democratic primary, narrowly edging out a more moderate rival, former Rep. Tom Malinowski, in a field of 11 candidates. While Mejia was the clear choice of the party’s left flank, the rest of the field appeared to divide the moderate and center-left vote.
Her primary victory was another boost for the left against the establishment after democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent shock waves across the nation with his Democratic primary victory in June 2025.
Hathaway, a former Randolph Township mayor and current council member who was unopposed for the GOP congressional nomination, aimed to paint Mejia as too far to the left for the district. He told Fox News Digital the choice for voters was “between a common sense, practical independent leader who’s gotten things done at the local level in New Jersey and knows the issues, contrasted with someone who’s running on pure ideology, far left-wing ideology, Squad-backed ideology.”
PROGRESSIVES NOTCH ANOTHER WIN OVER DEMOCRATIC MODERATES AS SANDERS-AOC ALLY NEARS CONGRESS
Analilia Mejia secured the Democratic Party nomination in a special election to find out who will take over newly elected New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s vacant House seat.(Heather Khalifa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Mejia recently appeared at a town hall with Malinowski and, on Sunday, teamed up with Sherrill on the campaign trail as she aimed to unite Democrats, who enjoy a sizable registration advantage in the district. Sherrill, a moderate Democrat, flipped the district in her 2018 election to Congress.
Hathaway claimed Mejia was trying “to hide a little bit” from “some of her rhetoric, because she knows that those policies are completely out of touch, but it’s not fooling voters. It’s certainly not fooling us.”
Jewish voters make up a key part of the district’s electorate, and Hathaway, in the only debate in the special election, claimed Mejia was antisemitic, noting she has said Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
“She blamed Israel for the attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7,” Hathaway said. “I think Jewish individuals across this district, Republican or Democrat, are very afraid of this kind of rhetoric.”
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6393040941112
Hathaway said, “I’ve spoken to more members of the Jewish community who have told me they’ve never voted for a Republican in their life, who are going to vote for me in this race. I mean, that shows you where the Jewish community is on the importance of this race and how they are not aligned with Mejia … and her platform.”
Mejia pledged to “protect the rights of Jewish constituents” and said her criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza should not be conflated with antisemitism.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Mejia said, “Joe Hathaway’s inability to distinguish between criticism of a government or government official and bigotry is troubling and disgusting in equal measure.”
Mejia last week wrote that she was “honored” after being endorsed by the liberal pro-Israel political group J Street PAC. But her acceptance of the endorsement triggered pushback on the left, with the North Jersey Democratic Socialists of America calling her move a “heel turn.”
As he worked to win over independents and Democrats, Hathaway pointed out where he agrees and disagrees with President Donald Trump, who lost the district by eight points in the 2024 presidential election.
REPUBLICANS WIN BUT DEMOCRATS ALSO CLAIM VICTORY WITH BALLOT BOX SURGE IN TRUMP TERRITORY
Campaign signs for Republican candidate Joe Hathaway and Democrat Analilia Mejia in the NJ-11 special congressional election, in Randolph, N.J., April 13, 2026(Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
“I’m always going to do what’s right for this district first. And I’ve been clear: If the president’s going to do things that are good for the district, increasing the SALT cap deduction, putting money back in people’s pockets, especially New Jersey, affordability is so tough here. If we’re doing things like border security, reducing fentanyl deaths like we’ve seen in our community, those are good things. I support those policies,” Hathaway said.
“But, on the other hand, if the president’s going to do things that aren’t in the best interest of our district, it’s my job to push back, and that’s exactly what I’ve done.”
Hathaway pointed to Trump’s move last year to terminate billions of federal dollars for the Gateway Project, which is funding a new train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York, and the president’s plans to cut roughly 1,000 jobs and nearly $1 billion in funding for an Army base located in New Jersey.
“I’m going to call balls and strikes in this race. I’m not going to be a rubber stamp for anybody,” Hathaway said.
“I think we have the right math, the right bipartisan coalition to come together to win this thing on April 16.”
Republican congressional candidate Joe Hathaway speaks with voters at the Randolph Diner April 13, 2026, in Randolph, N.J.(Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
But Hathaway came up short, given the rough political climate facing Republicans and the traditional headwinds for the party in power.
Mejia repeatedly linked Hathaway to Trump and Republicans in Congress.
“MAGA Republicans are driving up everyday costs with extreme policies my opponent supports. Healthcare and critical programs are being gutted just to fund tax breaks for the ultra-rich. We can’t afford another vote for Trump in Congress,” she wrote in a recent social media post.
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Dan Cassino, a Fairleigh Dickinson University political science professor and pollster, called Hathaway’s hopes of capturing crossover Democrats “a pipe dream.”
“Democrats as a whole do not seem interested in finding common ground with Trump,” Cassino said on Monday, predicting most voters in the special election would be strong partisans.
“Democratic turnout is through the roof, and Republican turnout is depressed at this point.”
Hathaway, looking ahead to a likely rematch with Mejia in November, said in a statement Thursday night, “I still believe the broader electorate in NJ-11 is looking for balanced, pragmatic leadership, not the kind of far-left policies embraced by Ms. Mejia. That conversation is not over.”
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast.
