Thanks to NJ, Mike Johnson Just Had Another Terrible Week

There’s never a shortage of reasons to love New Jersey—and as a native Garden Stater, I can rattle off an infinite list at any given moment explaining exactly why it reigns supreme. 

On Thursday, New Jersey gave us yet another reason to hoot and holler: in a special election for the 11th congressional district, Democrat Analilia Mejía won in a landslide. The race filled the seat vacated by Democrat Mikie Sherrill, who resigned after being elected governor in November. Mejía will serve out the rest of Sherrill’s term—the next eight months—but will have to win the Democratic primary in June and the general election in November to serve a full two-year term. 

Still, Mejía’s win keeps the seat blue for now and narrows House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) razor-thin majority in the lower chamber, which remains 217–214, with one Independent and three seats currently vacant. Once she’s sworn in, Johnson—who monitors porn intake with his son—can only afford to lose a single GOP vote on party-line legislation. Jersey, I’m having 17 hoagies tonight in your honor.

Mejia: I’m so excited and thrilled to get the opportunity to represent the great people of New Jersey’s 11th congressional district. pic.twitter.com/sRK6H1fVYe

— Acyn (@Acyn) April 17, 2026

“To everyone in this incredible district,” Mejía said during her victory party in Montclair, “I want you to know that I will fight for you every single day. I did not come to play.” She declared herself—along with the crowd—an “unbought, unbossed, sassy, new member of Congress.” 

Her opponent, Joe Hathaway, tried to criticize her as too progressive, arguing that the district wanted “balanced, pragmatic” leadership rather than “far-left policies.” Well, clearly not. By 8 p.m. on Thursday, the Associated Press called the race with about 94% of all votes counted, showing Mejía with roughly 60% of the vote to Hathaway’s 40%. 

Mejia is a longtime political strategist who served as the national political director for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign and later as a Biden-appointed deputy director of the Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau. She ran on left-wing economic policies, has voiced support for abolishing ICE, and has been a vocal critic of Israel.

“I came to fight for what is right,” she said during her victory speech. “It is not about left or right. It is about right and wrong.”

There will be two more special elections on June 2 and June 16 for two of the vacant House seats, both in California—Democrats are favored in one and the GOP in the other. There hasn’t yet been a scheduled election for the third vacant seat, which is in a Republican-leaning Texas district. But we’ve already seen what the Blue wave has done to those…

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