Democrat Analilia Mejia and Republican Joe Hathaway are the major party candidates running in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, which includes parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties. Gov. Mikie Sherrill represented the district before resigning to serve as governor.
Sherrill was elected to the 11th District in 2018, flipping the historically red district to blue. The district was redrawn and now leans blue, with registered Democrats outnumbering Republicans by more than 60,000 voters.
The winner of the April 16 special election will serve in Congress through Jan. 3.
Mejia is a longtime progressive activist and labor organizer. She won a crowded primary to become the Democratic candidate, beating former U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski and nearly a dozen others to clinch the nomination. Mejia formerly led the progressive New Jersey Working Families Party. She was U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ national political director for his presidential run, and worked in the U.S. Department of Labor under President Joe Biden’s administration. In this interview with NJ Spotlight News, Mejia shares where she stands on major issues — affordability, federal immigration enforcement, U.S.-Israel relations and more. This interview has been lightly edited.
‘Democratic backslide’
Joanna Gagis, anchor: Why are you running to fill this open seat?
Analilia Mejia: We’re in a moment in which it’s clear that we’re in a democratic backslide. It’s clear that this economy is hurting working-class, middle-class families. This is a moment in which we have to lean into this idea of self-governance. I’ve been an organizer for 25 years in New Jersey. Folks may not be familiar with my name, but they may be familiar with my work.
I led the campaign to raise the minimum wage in New Jersey. I fought for paid sick leave for all workers. I fought for democracy, expanding measures and fighting gerrymandering so that your vote can actually count. And in this moment where it’s clear that we need to take back our democracy and support our democratic institutions, I jumped in because I feel like I could represent the interests of New Jersey’s 11th.
We have a president that is usurping power from Congress, whether it’s the power of the purse or leading us into war. We’re in a moment in which our judiciary feels like it’s been taken over by ideological extremists. We have a president who is pushing for acts and bills that would curtail our ability to participate in the electoral process.
Expanding voting access
JG: The Save America Act: What are your thoughts there?
AM: That runs counter to saving America. We need to expand our opportunities to engage in government, engage in policymaking, engage in the electoral process. And the truth is, it will hurt both sides of the aisle — Democrats, Republicans, independents — from actually being able to participate, all to fix an imaginary problem.
JG: So do you not think that we need to ensure or more proof that it is only citizens who are voting in our elections?
AM: Of course, we need to make sure that we have the integrity of our voting institutions. We have studied whether or not there is actually a problem of illegal voting, and we know that the instances are few and far between. But the impact of instituting corrections like demanding that our elderly have a certain kind of ID to be able to participate — we would harm legal eligible voters from participation.
We have a system that has worked. Instead, what we should focus on is expanding voting access, making sure that that early voting is more expansive, that we have the ability to vote by mail, that we have the ability to ensure that people can participate so that we can be at the helm of our government.
Minimum wage
JG: Affordability is an issue that you’ve campaigned on. You would like to see the minimum wage raised nationally. What would you like to see there?
AM: Our minimum wage is so incredibly low. In New Jersey, for example, is at $15.96, I believe. We fought hard to make sure that there was a staggered increase that allowed our small businesses to be able to adapt and our workers to be able to benefit. The truth is, there isn’t a place in the United States where making less than $25 an hour allows a family to actually sustain itself.
And affordability is huge when you consider that inflation is up 3.4%, when you consider that housing costs are up upwards of 5%. Energy costs are up upwards of 6% and health care is up 174%. How are we going to make ends meet? And in these depressed wage conditions, we have to make smart policies that actually lift working-class, middle-class families in New Jersey.
Take back from ICE
JG: You’ve been vocal in your criticism of President Trump on a number of issues. Let’s start with ICE. You have called for the abolishment of ICE. Why? Why do you believe it’s abolish or not reform?
AM: It’s abolish and replace. The truth is that there is multiple levels to the problems that we see in ICE. They have a recruitment problem. The individuals that they’re recruiting are problematic on many levels. Some of them ousted from other agencies. They have an oversight problem. They have a violence problem. They have a training problem.
So instead of nibbling around the edges and trying to course correct something that frankly has only been in existence for the last 22 years, we should take a fraction of the $75 billion that was essentially stolen from the American people — money that had been allocated to SNAP, to Medicaid, to different safety net programs. Take that $75 billion and take a fraction of it and invest it in more judges, invest it in the early part of our immigration system. The truth is, we have the data to be able to fix our immigration system. We just don’t have the judges and the capacity to move people.
JG: Do you believe that immigration enforcement needs to be carried out in our country so that folks who are here illegally or without documentation should be removed?
AM: We need to create pathways to citizenship for people who have been building their lives in this nation. The truth is that we invest in educating children of undocumented children or in undocumented families. The truth is that immigrants have built businesses, have established homes, have raised families. And it would be unconscionable to rip hard-working people, law-abiding people out of our nation.
It’s not only unfair to them, but it’s bad for our economy. Instead, we should ensure that we use data. We use information. We use a fair process to weed out people we do not want in the country. Who wants a nation full of criminals? Nobody does.
JG: Do you think President Biden was reckless or dangerous in terms of how he left the southern border open? And do you think that the President Trump was right in closing it?
AM: Well, I don’t know if they’re opening or closing borders. The truth is that we have had an immigration system, that has been broken for many, many years. The correction can be bipartisan, should be intentional and should actually fix the problem. We need more judges. We need more information. We need to stop the terror in immigrant communities.
And frankly, this is the first time that I’ve seen ICE agents, Homeland Security agents, turn their weapons on American citizens and shoot people in streets. That is unconscionable. That has to stop.
Antisemitic? ‘Completely ridiculous’
JG: You’ve also faced criticism from your opponent on being critical of Israel. You’ve criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, called him a war criminal for his actions in Gaza — which you call a genocide. Should the U.S. have a strong relationship with its ally in the Middle East, Israel?
AM: Of course, we should have a strong relationship with nations that are focused on building democracy, ensuring, uplifting human rights, making sure that we are in relationship with folks who are trying to build a just society. What I desire for myself, I desire for others. But here’s the truth: 80% of Gaza is in rubble.
We know that there’s continued land annexation. We know that there’s continued violence even though there is a supposed ceasefire and that creates the instability. We have to be able to fight antisemitism. We need to fight Islamophobia. We need to fight bigotry in the United States. There is a way in which we can uphold human rights and civil liberties and everyone be born free and have the ability to tell even our friends when we think that they have crossed a line and there should be a course correction.
The hardest thing is to tell our friends that we disagree with an action, but we need to be able to do that, especially with some of our closest allies, which Israel is.
JG: Your opponent has called you antisemitic for saying that. Well, I believe you said Palestinians, Israelis and Jews have a right to self-determination in their ancestral homeland. But he’s called you antisemitic. Do you agree?
AM: That is completely ridiculous. Does that mean that if we uphold the human rights of one group, we are negating the human rights of another? I think that’s just ridiculous name calling. I will say, as a mother of two sons, that when my children start to lose an argument or don’t have anything actually worthwhile to say or to criticize each other on that, they go to name calling.
The truth is we can uphold the human rights of all communities that we feel allyship to. The truth is that we have to fight Islamophobia and antisemitism. The truth is that we need to create conditions in which Palestinians, Israelis, Muslims, Jewish people, Christians can live free in their homelands. And I believe that Israel can be a Jewish state and a democratic one.
I believe that we can uphold the human rights of both Palestinians and Israelis, and that doesn’t cross over to antisemitism. But when we throw these accusations around, that’s just a cynical way to say I don’t care about these communities, and that’s unjust. And I reject it.
‘Diverse and inclusive’ debate
JG: We did invite you to have this conversation with Joe Hathaway. You did not want to do that. You also turned down the League of Women Voters.
AM: Actually, I agreed. We were confirmed. New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District is close to 40% diverse. I, as a woman of color, running to represent this district, I’ve lived here for 13 years. I think it’s important to be inclusive. My request was that we can uphold neutrality and we can uphold diversity. I was ready, willing and able. As I’ve shared, I have said to both the League of Women Voters and to my supporters: Llook, I don’t back away from an argument or a fight. Just ask my siblings. I’m the youngest of 15. I know how to how to disagree without being disagreeable.
JG: So what was the issue?
AM: We need to ensure that the way in which we present ourselves is diverse and inclusive.
JG: The League says they had diversity on the panel. But you insisted on approving the moderators.
AM: I insisted on having diversity in that moderating panel. I had agreed that I would happily participate in a debate. I have been holding town halls across this district. I, in fact, just last night had a tele town hall ensuring that I am available to constituents. But here’s what I’ll also say. The truth is that, you know, we are in a moment in which the distinction, the difference between me and my opponent couldn’t be more clear.
I uphold the Constitution and I believe in democratic institutions. My opponent stands with Jan. 6 insurrectionists. I believe that health care rising at 174% is not only untenable, it’s unconscionable. Health care should be a human right. My opponent would side with Donald Trump in taking away further tax credits. I believe that we have a housing affordability crisis not only in the country but in New Jersey’s 11th.
My opponent gleefully says that he has fought against building affordable housing in his hometown and will likely do the same. You’re either going to choose someone that’s going to stand up for what’s right, even when it’s uncomfortable. Someone that will say the truth, even when there’s the potential for political backlash. We need to be able to have a different kind of politics that isn’t rooted on us versus them.
That isn’t left or right, but it’s about right and wrong. And to me, the difference is so stark and clear that I trust that voters are going to make the right decision.
