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Bernie Sanders, AOC-backed Democrat wins key House race; GOP fails to expand fragile majority
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Republicans fell far short in their bid to flip a vacant U.S. House seat in a blue-leaning district in northern New Jersey.
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, The Associated Press reported. The race was called minutes after the polls closed at 8pm ET.
With her victory, Mejia will fill the final eight months of the term of Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic representative who stepped down from Congress in November after winning New Jersey’s gubernatorial election.
The special election came as the GOP clings to a fragile House majority. Republicans would have relished the opportunity to pick up the seat, but they faced a steep uphill climb to flip the suburban district Sherrill won by 15 points in her 2024 re-election and carried by roughly the same margin in last year’s gubernatorial election.
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New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed Executive Order 12 restricting certain immigration enforcement activities on state property shortly after taking office in January. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images)
Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, in congratulating Mejia on her victory, said her «grassroots campaign spoke to hardworking New Jersey families. I know she’ll fight to lower costs, protect health care, and tackle the affordability crisis head-on.»
Mejia, a progressive organizer who served as national political director on the 2020 Sanders presidential campaign, pulled off an upset in the February Democratic primary, narrowly edging out a more moderate rival, former Rep. Tom Malinowski, in a field of 11 candidates. While Mejia was the clear choice of the party’s left flank, the rest of the field appeared to divide the moderate and center-left vote.
Her primary victory was another boost for the left against the establishment after democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent shock waves across the nation with his Democratic primary victory in June 2025.
Hathaway, a former Randolph Township mayor and current council member who was unopposed for the GOP congressional nomination, aimed to paint Mejia as too far to the left for the district. He told Fox News Digital the choice for voters was «between a common sense, practical independent leader who’s gotten things done at the local level in New Jersey and knows the issues, contrasted with someone who’s running on pure ideology, far left-wing ideology, Squad-backed ideology.»
PROGRESSIVES NOTCH ANOTHER WIN OVER DEMOCRATIC MODERATES AS SANDERS-AOC ALLY NEARS CONGRESS
Analilia Mejia secured the Democratic Party nomination in a special election to find out who will take over newly elected New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s vacant House seat. (Heather Khalifa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Mejia recently appeared at a town hall with Malinowski and, on Sunday, teamed up with Sherrill on the campaign trail as she aimed to unite Democrats, who enjoy a sizable registration advantage in the district. Sherrill, a moderate Democrat, flipped the district in her 2018 election to Congress.
Hathaway claimed Mejia was trying «to hide a little bit» from «some of her rhetoric, because she knows that those policies are completely out of touch, but it’s not fooling voters. It’s certainly not fooling us.»
Jewish voters make up a key part of the district’s electorate, and Hathaway, in the only debate in the special election, claimed Mejia was antisemitic, noting she has said Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
«She blamed Israel for the attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7,» Hathaway said. «I think Jewish individuals across this district, Republican or Democrat, are very afraid of this kind of rhetoric.»
Hathaway said, «I’ve spoken to more members of the Jewish community who have told me they’ve never voted for a Republican in their life, who are going to vote for me in this race. I mean, that shows you where the Jewish community is on the importance of this race and how they are not aligned with Mejia … and her platform.»
Mejia pledged to «protect the rights of Jewish constituents» and said her criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza should not be conflated with antisemitism.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Mejia said, «Joe Hathaway’s inability to distinguish between criticism of a government or government official and bigotry is troubling and disgusting in equal measure.»
Mejia last week wrote that she was «honored» after being endorsed by the liberal pro-Israel political group J Street PAC. But her acceptance of the endorsement triggered pushback on the left, with the North Jersey Democratic Socialists of America calling her move a «heel turn.»
As he worked to win over independents and Democrats, Hathaway pointed out where he agrees and disagrees with President Donald Trump, who lost the district by eight points in the 2024 presidential election.
REPUBLICANS WIN BUT DEMOCRATS ALSO CLAIM VICTORY WITH BALLOT BOX SURGE IN TRUMP TERRITORY
Campaign signs for Republican candidate Joe Hathaway and Democrat Analilia Mejia in the NJ-11 special congressional election, in Randolph, N.J., April 13, 2026 (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
«I’m always going to do what’s right for this district first. And I’ve been clear: If the president’s going to do things that are good for the district, increasing the SALT cap deduction, putting money back in people’s pockets, especially New Jersey, affordability is so tough here. If we’re doing things like border security, reducing fentanyl deaths like we’ve seen in our community, those are good things. I support those policies,» Hathaway said.
«But, on the other hand, if the president’s going to do things that aren’t in the best interest of our district, it’s my job to push back, and that’s exactly what I’ve done.»
Hathaway pointed to Trump’s move last year to terminate billions of federal dollars for the Gateway Project, which is funding a new train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York, and the president’s plans to cut roughly 1,000 jobs and nearly $1 billion in funding for an Army base located in New Jersey.
«I’m going to call balls and strikes in this race. I’m not going to be a rubber stamp for anybody,» Hathaway said.
«I think we have the right math, the right bipartisan coalition to come together to win this thing on April 16.»
Republican congressional candidate Joe Hathaway speaks with voters at the Randolph Diner April 13, 2026, in Randolph, N.J. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
But Hathaway came up short, given the rough political climate facing Republicans and the traditional headwinds for the party in power.
Mejia repeatedly linked Hathaway to Trump and Republicans in Congress.
«MAGA Republicans are driving up everyday costs with extreme policies my opponent supports. Healthcare and critical programs are being gutted just to fund tax breaks for the ultra-rich. We can’t afford another vote for Trump in Congress,» she wrote in a recent social media post.
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Dan Cassino, a Fairleigh Dickinson University political science professor and pollster, called Hathaway’s hopes of capturing crossover Democrats «a pipe dream.»
«Democrats as a whole do not seem interested in finding common ground with Trump,» Cassino said on Monday, predicting most voters in the special election would be strong partisans.
«Democratic turnout is through the roof, and Republican turnout is depressed at this point.»
Hathaway, looking ahead to a likely rematch with Mejia in November, said in a statement Thursday night, «I still believe the broader electorate in NJ-11 is looking for balanced, pragmatic leadership, not the kind of far-left policies embraced by Ms. Mejia. That conversation is not over.»
bernie sanders, democrats elections, alexandria ocasio cortez, republicans, mikie sherrill, house of representatives, new jersey
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Trump’s Iran gamble divides GOP hawks and ‘America First’ conservatives over what victory looks like
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President Donald Trump may have united Republicans behind military action against Iran, but his push to formalize peace is proving far more divisive.
As details of a memorandum of understanding emerge, GOP hawks are questioning whether the administration gave up too much, while Trump allies argue the president achieved a historic objective that crippled Iran’s military capabilities without dragging the U.S. into another prolonged war.
The disagreement is about more than Iran. It has exposed a growing divide inside the GOP over what Trump’s «America First» foreign policy should look like in practice — and what victory should mean once a military campaign ends.
At its core, the debate centers on competing visions of American power. One camp views military success as leverage to extract maximum concessions from adversaries and secure lasting strategic gains. The other sees it as a tool to neutralize threats and end conflicts before they become another Iraq or Afghanistan. Trump’s Iran agreement has forced those competing philosophies into a rare public collision.
That divide is already playing out among some of the party’s most prominent national security voices.
TOP SENATE REPUBLICAN RIPS INTO TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL, SAYS $300 BILLION MAKES OBAMA DEAL LOOK LIKE ‘A PITTANCE’
The administration’s memorandum of understanding with Tehran has exposed a divide among Republicans over what constitutes victory after the military campaign against Iran. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
The deal’s fiercest Republican critics argue Trump is giving away leverage at the very moment Iran is most vulnerable. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., has blasted the agreement on X as the «worst foreign policy blunder in decades,» while Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., has warned it appears «out of step» with the goals of the military campaign.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has questioned the concessions offered to Tehran and former U.N. Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has criticized proposals that could help rebuild Iran.
Former Vice President Mike Pence has gone even further, calling the agreement a potential «lifeline» for the regime and warning it «smacks of appeasement.»
VANCE SAYS ‘UNITED STATES WINS EITHER WAY’ AS HE DEFENDS TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL AGAINST GOP SKEPTICS
Vice President JD Vance has defended Trump’s Iran agreement as the culmination of a successful military campaign that brought Tehran to the negotiating table from a position of weakness. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Trump’s allies, however, argue critics are overlooking the sweeping military campaign that preceded the agreement.
Vice President JD Vance and other administration officials contend the president achieved his core objective after U.S. and allied forces struck key Iranian military and nuclear sites, eliminated senior commanders and inflicted significant damage on Tehran’s military infrastructure. Supporters say those operations crippled Iran’s ability to project power, restored deterrence and ultimately brought the regime to the negotiating table without requiring a large-scale deployment of American ground troops.
They argue victory is defined by achieving U.S. objectives and ending the conflict on favorable terms — not by risking another prolonged war in the Middle East.
The clash highlights a foreign policy debate that has been simmering inside the Republican Party for years.
NEW SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW FIRES, NAVAL BASE DAMAGE ACROSS IRAN AFTER US-ISRAELI STRIKES
Supporters argue the agreement locks in military gains, while critics contend it gives Tehran too much after suffering major setbacks. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Getty Images)
While Republicans have largely rallied around Trump’s use of military force against Iran, the disagreement over what comes next reflects a deeper tension inside the party.
For traditional hawks, military victories create opportunities to reshape adversaries and secure lasting concessions. For many America First conservatives, the objective is narrower: neutralize threats, avoid nation-building and keep U.S. troops out of prolonged conflicts.
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As lawmakers and conservative leaders continue debating the memorandum of understanding’s merits, the fight may ultimately be less about the details of the Iran deal than about the future direction of Republican foreign policy — and what victory should mean in the Middle East.
war with iran, national security, donald trump, foreign policy, republicans, politics
INTERNACIONAL
Donald Trump asegura que Keir Starmer renunciará como primer ministro de Reino Unido: «Fracasó estrepitosamente en temas importantes»
Trump anunció la renuncia
El riesgo de las elecciones anticipadas
Una relación trasatlántica estallada
Tras la victoria en Makerfield
Cien diputados en contra de Starmer
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Trump says UK’s Starmer will resign, wishes him well amid reports of PM’s political future
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U.S. President Donald Trump declared in a Sunday Truth Social post that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will resign from his post.
Trump indicated that he wishes Starmer well, but also accused the British politician of failing on two issues.
«Keir Starmer will resign as Prime Minister of The United Kingdom. He failed badly on two very important subjects- IMMIGRATION AND ENERGY (OPEN NORTH SEA OIL!). I wish him well! President DJT,» Trump declared in the Truth Social post.
Trump’s statement comes amid reporting that Starmer could be on his way out as early as Monday, with Reuters reporting Sunday the prime minister was still deliberating over his future.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated
united kingdom, donald trump, world
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