In a surprise victory, progressive candidate Analilia Mejía won the Democratic primary to fill the House seat left vacant by New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill. Mejía served as 2020 national political director for Bernie Sanders and as deputy director of the Labor Department's Women's Bureau under President Joe Biden. As a proponent of community organizing, she has pledged to refuse corporate PAC and AIPAC dollars. "It is training each other, engaging each other, understanding our history, so that we can protect our democratic institutions and we could preserve the kind of self-governance that we strive for in the United States," Mejía says.
Mejía won 29.3% of the vote against former Congressmember Tom Malinowski, who placed second with 27.6% of the vote. Although Mejía was the only candidate to say Israel is committing a genocide, Malinowski — who is pro-Israel but supportive of limits on aid to Israel — was the target of AIPAC ads that may have led to Mejía's victory.
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