If you’re a Republican trying to hold on to a razor-thin House majority, last night in New Jersey was not a good night.

Progressive Democrat Analilia Mejia — backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — crushed Republican Joe Hathaway in the NJ-11 special election on Thursday. The race was called minutes after polls closed at 8 PM. That’s how lopsided it was.

The final margin? Roughly 60-40. In a district Republicans had hoped to flip.

And here’s the part that should make every Republican strategist lose sleep: when Mejia is sworn in, Speaker Mike Johnson’s majority shrinks to 218-214. That means he can only afford ONE single GOP defection on any party-line vote. One. That’s not a majority — that’s a tightrope.

Democrats wasted no time celebrating:

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This isn’t just any Democrat, either. Mejia ran on a platform that includes abolishing ICE, Medicare for All, universal child care, and raising taxes on the wealthy. She’s a former national political director for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign and a longtime organizer with the Working Families Alliance who pushed for a $15 minimum wage in New Jersey.

Fox News reported on the significance of the outcome:

Democrat Analilia Mejia, who was backed by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of neighboring New York, convincingly defeated GOP candidate Joe Hathaway in Thursday’s special election in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.

Mejia will fill the rest of former Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s term and narrow Republicans’ House majority to 218-214. Sherrill resigned from Congress last November after winning New Jersey’s gubernatorial election.

National Republicans cast Mejia as a socialist during the campaign, but Hathaway faced a steep uphill battle in a district where Democrats hold roughly 65,000 more registered voters than Republicans.

The local Fox affiliate tracked the results as they came in:

Now, the NJ-11 district does lean heavily Democratic — Sherrill won it by 15 points in 2024. So the result itself isn’t exactly a shock. But the margin of victory and the fact that the MOST progressive candidate in the primary ended up dominating the general election should be raising alarm bells for the GOP heading into November.

CNN broke down the math that has Johnson’s team sweating:

Mejia’s win narrows Speaker Mike Johnson’s Republican majority considerably. Once sworn in, the partisan breakdown will be 217 Republicans, 214 Democrats, one independent, and three vacant seats.

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Johnson can now afford only a single GOP defection on party-line votes. Mejia previously served as national political director for Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign and worked for the New Jersey Working Families Alliance advocating for a $15 minimum wage.

When asked about joining the progressive “Squad,” Mejia responded: “If you were going to define me as anything, it’s a scrappy New Jersey soccer mom willing to stand up for you.”

Hathaway congratulated Mejia but signaled a likely rematch in November, saying the broader electorate is “looking for balanced, pragmatic leadership, not the kind of far-left policies embraced by Ms. Mejia.”

Maybe. But with 36 House Republicans already announcing they won’t seek reelection — a record number — and a House majority that now hangs by a thread, “pragmatic leadership” might not be enough to save the GOP from what’s shaping up to be a very difficult 2026.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
 

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