The front-runners competing to represent New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District in a special election in two weeks clashed during their only debate before voters determine who should fill the vacant House seat previously held by Gov. Mikie Sherrill.
Democrat Analilia Mejia, a longtime labor organizer and former director of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, and Republican Joe Hathaway, a councilman in Randolph, sparred for just over an hour in the virtual debate organized by the New Jersey Globe.
The two argued on issues ranging from health care costs to the war in Gaza to escalating immigration enforcement, with each often attacking the other’s record and fitness for office.
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Hathaway said his opponent is too far left for the district — one of the wealthiest in the country — and called Mejia a socialist, a label she denied when asked by debate moderators. Mejia, meanwhile, often mentioned that Hathaway voted three times for President Donald Trump, suggesting the councilman is trying to appear more independent than he is.
“This is a simple choice, one of practical leadership or radical socialism,” Hathaway said, noting that Mejia previously called Jesus a socialist.
Mejia shot back by citing Bible verses where Jesus spoke about protecting immigrants, feeding the hungry, and caring for the incarcerated.
“The policies I speak about are about focusing on human beings. It’s not about left or right. It’s about right and wrong,” she said. “I believe health care is a human right.”
The issue of affordability dominated the debate. While Hathaway said that Republican legislation like the One Big Beautiful Bill — Mejia called it the “Big Ugly Bill” — delivered real relief to New Jersey residents, Mejia said the declining economic trajectory since Trump took office again last year is directly tied to GOP decisions like not renewing enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits.
“I know that people are drowning in credit card debt. In the last year alone, their health care costs have skyrocketed, skyrocketed. Their energy costs have skyrocketed. Everything is more expensive because Republican policies have made it harder,” she said.
Hathaway said that Democratic proposals would have made things worse, and attacked Mejia’s support for single-payer health care as a plan that would “raise spending by trillions and trillions of dollars.” When asked by moderators if he would have supported the One Big Beautiful Bill if he were in Congress, he said yes, saying it included an expanded child tax credit and a higher deduction cap for state and local taxes.
On immigration, Mejia, who describes herself as an Afro-Latina, repeated her calls to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She said the agency is plagued with recruitment and accountability issues, and that it should be replaced with a system based on immigration judges and smarter enforcement.
“Immigrants are … afraid to report crimes, and that leads to greater insecurity. We shouldn’t have armed thugs that have such immunity that they act with impunity, shooting American people,” she said, adding, “This is not the America we want to live in.”
Hathaway said he supports improved training for ICE officers and more de-escalation protocols, but argued the agency should also be able to cooperate with state and local law enforcement to do its job (Sherrill just signed a bill into law limiting that type of cooperation). He also attacked Mejia for working for the Biden administration at a time when “our borders were the least secure they’ve ever possibly been.”
One of the more volatile exchanges — and one of the many times the candidates spoke over each other — came on the topic of the war in Gaza. Hathaway accused Mejia of being antisemitic, noting that at a candidate forum during the primary, she indicated she believes Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. He suggested her representation of the district would make Jewish residents feel less safe, and said he won’t stop referring to her as antisemitic until she changes her message.
A debate moderator asked Mejia whether she believes Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.
“Again, I think I’ve been very clear on my position here, and I understand that many individuals are feeling conflicted about what we are seeing in Gaza. But here is the bottom line: 80% of Gaza is in rubble,” she said. “Can we agree that that is wrong? Can we agree that cutting the electricity to water desalinization plants is not only wrong, but it goes against the Geneva Convention, and it is a war crime? Can we agree that we can see that Benjamin Netanyahu is moving policies that actually undermine freedom and peace in the Middle East?”
She continued: “I stand by the fact that I’ve called Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal. I believe that criticism of Benjamin Netanyahu and his administration is not anti-Israel any more than criticism of Donald Trump is anti-American.”
Mejia also pledged that as a member of Congress, she would use “every legislative power at my disposal to protect the rights of Jewish constituents and convene spaces to educate and to fight antisemitism.”
Wednesday’s debate came after Mejia declined to participate in a debate organized by the League of Women Voters.
Mejia won the Democratic primary in February, defeating a crowded field of candidates that included former Rep. Tom Malinowski. Hathaway ran unopposed in the GOP primary.
The winner of the special election — on Thursday, April 16 — will serve out the remainder of Sherrill’s House term, which expires Jan. 3, 2027. Mejia and Hathaway are both running again later this year for the two-year term that begins in January.
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