Bernie Sanders protégé Analilia Mejia ran on abolishing ICE and won.
The Associated Press projected her as the winner Thursday, seven days after the February 5 special primary in New Jersey's 11th District.
A socialist activist who wants to scrap America's immigration enforcement agency entirely is heading to Congress.
Former Bernie Campaign Staffer Defeats Establishment Congressman
Mejia served as Bernie Sanders' national political director during his 2020 presidential campaign.
She beat former Congressman Tom Malinowski by less than 900 votes — shocking Democrats who expected the two-term incumbent to cruise to victory.
Mejia led a field of 11 Democrats with 29.3% of the vote to Malinowski's 27.6%.
Former Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way came in third with 17.4%, and Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill finished fourth at 14.4%.
The district voted for Kamala Harris by nine points in 2024.
AOC's Squad Went All In For The Progressive Organizer
Mejia racked up endorsements from the far left's biggest names.
Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Elizabeth Warren, Pramila Jayapal, and Maxwell Frost all backed her campaign.
She ran on Medicare for All, tuition-free community college, a $25 federal minimum wage, and eliminating federal taxes on the first $40,000 earned.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the democratic socialist who shocked Democrats by winning the mayor's race in 2025, also endorsed her.
Mejia even hired the same social media firm that built Mamdani's online presence during his insurgent campaign.
She Chanted "Abolish ICE Now" Just Weeks Before Election Day
In late January, Mejia led a crowd in chanting the three words that used to be political poison.
"I say abolish ICE now," she told supporters.
"You can't reform that."
She called the agency irredeemable and demanded it be scrapped entirely, not just reformed.
Her message came after federal immigration agents fatally shot two Minneapolis protesters — American citizens — during Trump's immigration crackdown.
"In a moment of rising authoritarianism, of economic insecurity, of state-sanctioned violence, any old blue just won't do," Mejia said at the January rally. "If you send weak sauce to Congress, we will get weak sauce back."
Election Night Turned Into Week-Long Vote Count Drama
The race was so close that Decision Desk HQ called it for Malinowski on election night — then retracted the call hours later when day-of votes swung hard toward Mejia.
The New Jersey Globe also called it for Malinowski before pulling back their projection.
Mail-in ballots that came in early heavily favored Malinowski, but Election Day voters broke for the progressive by 20-30 point margins in some precincts.
That 65-point swing from the absentee vote forced election analysts to admit they'd jumped the gun.
Malinowski conceded Tuesday and endorsed Mejia for the April 16 general election against Republican Joe Hathaway.
This Mirrors The Pattern From AOC's 2018 Breakthrough
Abolish ICE became a political rallying cry in 2018 when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez made it central to her campaign against longtime incumbent Joe Crowley.
After AOC's shock June 2018 primary win, other progressives jumped on board — Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Kirsten Gillibrand all embraced the position.
The Squad made the issue their signature cause.
Republicans ran attack ads titled "Squad Goals: Anarchy" focused on their anti-ICE stance.
Progressive Caucus members introduced legislation to eliminate the agency in 2018, though they backed away from pushing it after Democrats won the House that year.
Now polling shows Democratic voters have moved left on the issue — 76% want ICE abolished according to a January 2026 YouGov poll after the Minneapolis shootings.
That's nearly double the support for defunding the police at its peak in 2020.
The Trump administration's aggressive enforcement tactics, including warrantless raids and masked federal agents, renewed progressive fury over the 23-year-old agency.
Democrats Are Freaking Out About Their Own Primaries Now
House Democrats are watching this result with alarm.
One senior House Democrat told Axios members are panicking about facing their own primary challengers.
Justice Democrats, the progressive group that backed AOC in 2018, says they're supporting dozens of working-class challengers in primaries this cycle.
Older establishment Democrats like Ed Case, Stephen Lynch, and Doris Matsui all face serious progressive challengers with significant fundraising.
The pattern from New Jersey is appearing nationwide — progressive unity behind single candidates while establishment Democrats split their support across multiple contenders.
Phil Murphy backed Commissioner Brendan Gill, his old campaign manager.
Senator Andy Kim endorsed Malinowski.
And AIPAC attacked Malinowski over his willingness to condition aid to Israel — creating an opening for Mejia, who calls Israel's actions in Gaza genocide.
Read that again.
They helped hand the seat to a candidate who wants to abolish ICE even though she accused Israel of genocide – all because another candidate dared to say he’d now put conditions on giving the foreign nation more US taxpayer money.
Wait, don’t read that again or you could get smeared with a label they’re fast making meaningless.
Mikie Sherrill's Old Seat Just Lurched Hard Left
The 11th District was a Republican stronghold for three decades before moderate Democrat Mikie Sherrill flipped it in 2018.
Sherrill won reelection by 15 points in 2024 before resigning to become New Jersey's governor in January.
Her moderate, national-security focused brand worked in the suburban district spanning parts of Essex, Morris, and Passaic counties.
Mejia represents the opposite approach.
This labor organizer from Elizabeth, New Jersey, is the daughter of Colombian and Dominican immigrants and is running her first campaign for any office.
She credited her win to grassroots organizing — 100,000 doors knocked, 300,000 phone calls made, and $600,000 raised mostly in donations under $100.
Malinowski raised nearly twice that amount and had establishment backing, but voters went with the candidate holding training sessions on civil disobedience and how to resist federal immigration agents.
Mejia still faces two more elections — the April 16 special general election against Hathaway, then a June primary for the full two-year term starting in January 2027.
Tahesha Way is considering running against her again in June.
But in a district Harris won by nine points, Republicans aren't expected to flip the seat in the general election.
Mejia told reporters Tuesday her message was simple.
"It's not about left, right," she said. "It's about right and wrong."
Sources:
- Anthony Iafrate, "Far-Left 'Abolish ICE' Democrat Projected Winner In Major Upset, One Week After Election Day," Daily Caller, February 12, 2026.
- Brett Samuels, "The left smells blood after shocking Democratic primary result," Axios, February 6, 2026.
- Jake Lahut, "Where Sanders and AOC-backed progressive congressional candidate Analilia Mejia stands on key issues," Fox News, February 9, 2026.
- Jon Allsop, "A New Jersey Primary Shows the Depth of Democratic Fury," The New York Times, February 10, 2026.
- Owen Auston-Babcock and Ryan J. Karlin, "Progressive activist Analilia Mejia wins special New Jersey House primary," NBC News, February 12, 2026.
- Paul Chabot, "Sanders and AOC-backed congressional candidate Analilia Mejia says 'abolish ICE now'," Yahoo News, February 9, 2026.
- Sophie Nieto-Munoz, "Analilia Mejia declares victory in NJ special election in stunning upset," New Jersey Monitor, February 10, 2026.
