Far-left candidate holding on to lead in NJ primary, as AIPAC strategy appears to backfire

Progressive US Sen. Bernie Sanders’ political director is holding onto a very thin lead in a special House Democratic primary race, indicating AIPAC’s strategy in it may have backfired.

Analilia Mejia is leading former congressman Tom Malinowski by 486 votes, amounting to less than a percentage point after 91% of the ballots have been counted.

The AIPAC-linked United Democracy Project spent significant funds to try and boost another candidate who finished in a distant third, while running attack ads against Malinowski — a former ally of the pro-Israel lobby who has become increasingly critical of the Israeli government’s policies toward the Palestinians.

Mejia’s was not favored to win, but may have benefited from the negative campaign against Malinowski.

Responding to the initial results, UDP says, “The outcome in NJ-11 was an anticipated possibility, and our focus remains on who will serve the next full term in Congress. UDP will be closely monitoring dozens of primary races, including the June NJ-11 primary, to help ensure pro-Israel candidates are elected to Congress.”

Mejia and Malinowski are competing to fill the New Jersey 11th District seat, which was vacated after Mikie Sherill was elected governor of the state.

All three counties in the district report some mail-in ballots yet to be processed. Also, mail-in ballots postmarked by election day can arrive as late as Wednesday and still be counted.

Malinowski did better than Mejia among the mail-in ballots already counted in all three counties, leaving the outcome of the race uncertain.

The Democratic winner will face Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, who was unopposed in the Republican primary, on April 16.

Malinowski served two terms in the House before losing a bid for reelection in a different district in 2022. He had the endorsement of New Jersey Democratic Sen. Andy Kim, who has built support among progressive groups.

Mejia, a former head of the Working Families Alliance in the state and political director for Sanders during his 2020 presidential run, had the Vermont independent senator’s endorsement as well as that of US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York. She also worked in President Joe Biden’s Labor Department as deputy director of the women’s bureau.

The special primary and April general election will determine who serves the remainder of Sherrill’s term, which ends next January. There will be a regular primary in June and a general election in November for the next two-year term.