NJ-11 Primary Election Results: Who Will Replace Mikie Sherrill In Congress? (UPDATED)

UPDATE: Tom Malinowski issued a statement conceding the race to Analilia Mejia on Feb. 10. The Associated Press declared Mejia as the winner on Feb. 12.

The dust has begun to settle from Thursday’s special primary election in New Jersey, and a big question still lingers on the minds of many Garden State residents: Who will replace Gov. Mikie Sherrill in Congress?

Sherrill resigned from her seat in the U.S. House of Representatives last year after she was elected as New Jersey’s 57th governor. Her term ends in January 2027.

Sherrill formerly represented the 11th district, which includes several towns in Essex, Morris and Passaic counties (see list below).

The Republican candidate to replace her, Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, ran unopposed in the primary election. Meanwhile, a crowded field of Democratic candidates competed for the party’s endorsement.

With 93 percent of votes counted as of late Thursday night, Analilia Mejia and Tom Malinowski remained neck and neck at the front of the pack.

Here are the latest unofficial results, according to the Associated Press (check back for updates):

• Analilia Mejia – 18,512 votes (29.1%)
• Tom Malinowski – 17,644 votes (27.7%)
• Tahesha Way – 11,032 votes (17.4%)
• Brendan Gill – 9,116 votes (14.3%)
• John Bartlett – 1,716 votes (2.7%)
• Justin Strickland – 1,315 votes (2.1%)
• Jeff Grayzel – 1,232 votes (1.9%)
• Zachary Beecher – 1,206 votes (1.9%)
• Cammie Croft – 666 votes (1.1%)
• Anna Lee Williams – 501 votes (0.8%)
• J-L Cauvin – 273 votes (0.4%)

Two of the candidates who appeared on the Democratic ballot withdrew from the race before Election Day: former Sherrill congressional staffer Marc Chaaban, and Maplewood Town Committee member Dean Dafis.

The majority of votes were spread out among four frontrunners: Malinowski, Mejia, Way and Gill.

The race eventually narrowed to Malinowski and Mejia, with the former congressman from the 7th district remaining ahead until late in the evening, when the momentum began to shift in favor of Mejia, a longtime community organizer in North Jersey.

• See Related: Mejia, Malinowski React To Premature Election Night Projections In NJ

ELECTION BACKGROUND

The winners of the primary will match up against any independent or third-party candidates in a general election for all the marbles on Thursday, April 16. There will be nine days of in-person early voting (April 6 to April 14). The voter registration deadline is March 26.

There were 226,173 registered Democrats and 164,807 registered Republicans in the 11th district as of Feb. 1. There were 206,102 unaffiliated voters, state data shows.

The super-competitive contest has fueled an explosion of campaign spending. Candidates have reportedly spent $3.2 million through mid-January, and independent groups have spent at least $3.9 million.

>> RELATED: NJ-11 Candidates Introduce Themselves At Forum [WATCH]

Candidates have been circling common themes on their campaign websites – including several issues that weighed heavily in last November’s governor race.

During that election, voters told pollsters that their top issues included affordability, taxes, schools, transportation, the economy and public safety.

Democratic candidates will be at least partly judged according to how they’ve reacted to the presidency of Donald Trump, an issue that some politicos say was a major factor in Sherrill’s landslide gubernatorial win.

The candidates have also been vocal about their positions on ICE activity, with a major federal immigration detention center in their district: Delaney Hall. READ MORE: Detainee Population Surges At ICE Prison In NJ After It Reopens Under Trump

Meanwhile, all but one of the candidates recently shared their views on public transportation with two advocacy groups. Neither group endorsed any candidate. READ MORE: Trains And Buses In NJ-11: Congress Candidates Talk Public Transportation

A new state law may have contributed to the large field of candidates running in the Feb. 5 primary election to replace Sherrill.

In 2024, a lawsuit was launched that led to changes in New Jersey's primary ballot design – commonly referred to as the “county line” or “party line.”

Previously, 19 counties in the state organized their primary ballots around a slate of party-endorsed candidates and put them in a prominent place. As a result, voters often had a hard time determining which candidates are running for each office, advocates said.

This allegedly gave a huge advantage to those who land on the county line – and exiled the others to “ballot Siberia.”

Now, New Jersey’s primary election ballots have to be formatted in an office block-style ballot, which is organized around the position up for election – not political parties. The result? A more competitive primary election, some experts say.

• See Related: NJ County Is Abandoning Legal Battle Against ‘The Line’
• See Related: New Jersey GOP, Dems Launch Groundbreaking Ballot Design Committee

WHERE IS THE 11TH DISTRICT?

New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District includes the following municipalities:

Essex County – Belleville, Bloomfield, Cedar Grove, Fairfield, Glen Ridge, Livingston, Maplewood, Millburn, Montclair (part), North Caldwell, Nutley, Roseland, South Orange, West Caldwell

Morris County – Boonton, Boonton Township, Butler, Chatham, Chatham Township, Denville, Dover, East Hanover, Florham Park, Hanover, Harding, Jefferson, Kinnelon, Lincoln Park, Madison, Mendham Twp (part), Montville, Morris Plains, Morris Township, Morristown Town, Mountain Lakes, Parsippany-Troy Hills, Pequannock, Randolph, Riverdale, Rockaway, Rockaway Township, Victory Gardens

Passaic County – Little Falls, Totowa, Wayne (part), Woodland Park

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