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Where Sanders and AOC-backed progressive congressional candidate Analilia Mejia stands on key issues
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A progressive candidate backed by champions of the left, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is close to pulling off an upset victory with votes still being counted in a Democratic congressional primary for a blue-leaning seat in New Jersey.
Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer, has a slight lead — nearly 900 votes out of more than 63,000 votes counted — ahead of former Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski in the battle for their party’s nomination in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District.
Mejia and Malinowski are the leaders among a field of 11 Democratic candidates in the race to fill the seat left vacant after now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped down after winning the November 2025 gubernatorial election in the Garden State.
The results in the primary showdown are being closely watched by the political world as an early testing ground in the debate between progressives versus the more mainstream elements of the Democratic Party.
BALLOT BOX SHOCKER IN HIGH-PROFILE DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL PRIMARY
Analilia Mejia, a progressive candidate backed by champions of the left, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is close to pulling off an upset victory in New Jersey. (Heather Khalifa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
And a victory by Mejia, who worked as national political director on Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, would be the latest boost for the left against the establishment since now-New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, sent shock waves across the nation with his Democratic primary victory in June 2025.
«She stands for a progressive populist economic agenda,» progressive leader Rep. Ro Khanna of California emphasized Friday in a social media post. «She is the future!»
And Mejia, speaking to supporters on primary night, highlighted that «we have to rebuild our party, we have to rebuild what is happening in our nation. We have to reclaim our democracy. We know that our economy is rigged to suit the billionaires.»
‘FULL-BLOWN BATTLE’ BREWING IN DEM PARTY AS MAMDANI-STYLE CANDIDATES RISE IN KEY RACES
Here’s a closer look at where Mejia stands on some key issues.
Immigration enforcement
During her primary campaign, Mejia took aim at President Donald Trump’s unprecedented crackdown on illegal immigration and has called for scrapping Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the federal agency most visible in the aggressive tactics used in the administration’s massive deportation effort.
«I say abolish ICE now,» Mejia said on the campaign trail in January. «You can’t reform it. It’s not fixable. Get it out.»
Democratic congressional candidate Analilia Mejia of New Jersey has called for the scrapping of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). (Heather Khalifa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Speaking with reporters Friday about her overperformance in the primary, Mejia gave credit to her stance on immigration in the wake of backlash against the Trump administration following the fatal shootings in Minnesota by federal agents of two U.S. citizens protesting immigration operations.
«I think the fact that I was bold and unafraid to speak the truth was incredibly important,» she told reporters. «I think voters feel that they want to have a representative that actually represents them, and they cannot watch what’s happening in Minnesota, what happened in Chicago, what happened in California, what happened in Morristown across this district.»
Supreme Court
Mejia, like many on the left, has railed against rulings by the conservative-dominated court.
«The Supreme Court has been captured by right-wing radicals who care more about doing Trump’s bidding than the rule of law,» Mejia charges on her campaign website.
HOUSE GOP MAJORITY SHRINKS TO JUST ONE VOTE AS JOHNSON SWEARS IN NEW HOUSE DEMOCRAT
She supports «articles of impeachment against Justices Thomas and Alito» for what she says is «their corruption and conflicts of interest.»
Mejia also backs «term limits for newly appointed Supreme Court justices, a binding code of ethics with real enforcement for all federal judges.»
Democratic congressional candidate Analilia Mejia of New Jersey supports term-limits for newly appointed justices on the Supreme Court. (Valerie Plesch/picture alliance via Getty Images)
And Mejia says she would support «expanding the courts if necessary to restore balance.»
Student loan debt
On her campaign website, Mejia states, «We’re going to cancel all student loan debt.»
And she pledges that she’ll «fight to make college tuition free at community colleges and trade schools for everyone.»
Taxes and minimum wage
As part of her «economy for everyone agenda,» Mejia argues, «If you work 40 hours a week, you should make at least $40,000 a year, and you shouldn’t pay a dime in federal taxes on that first $40,000.»
And she highlights that she helped lead the fight in New Jersey to «win the $15 minimum wage.»
If she makes it to Congress, Mejia says, «with the cost of living rising every day, it’s time to raise the minimum wage at the national level to $25/hour.»
Israel
Malinowski, an assistant secretary of state in former President Barack Obama’s administration who later represented a neighboring congressional district in northern New Jersey from 2018 to 2022 before losing re-election, was considered the front-runner in the race heading into primary day.
But Malinowski was the target of a slew of attack ads put out by a group affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which opposed Malinowski because he said he supports conditions on aid to Israel.
Tom Malinowski was considered the front-runner in the race heading into primary day. (Michael Karas / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
The AIPAC-aligned super PAC United Democracy Project dished out more than $2.3 million to take aim at Malinowski, even though AIPAC had previously supported Malinowski in his past congressional elections.
But the strategy may backfire, because Mejia is much tougher on Israel than Malinowski.
Mejia was the only candidate in the race who raised her hand at a forum in January when asked if they agreed with human rights groups who charge Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in its war with Hamas in Gaza.
Mejia was boosted by the support on the left. Sanders headlined a virtual rally for her on the eve of the primary.
And besides Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez, she also was endorsed by a large list of other progressive leaders, including Khanna, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Pramilla Jayapal of Washington State, the former chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
TOP 5 GAME-CHANGERS FROM THE 2025 CAMPAIGN TRAIL
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) a leading group on the left, said in a statement that «Analilia Mejia’s momentous showing proves that voters, when given a choice, want Democrats with an inspiring vision who will boldly challenge powerful interests on behalf of working families.»
PCCC co-founder Adam Green, a New Jersey native who knocked doors for Mejia and spoke at a rally with Mejia and Sanders on primary eve, added that primary voters «made clear they want Democrats who will shake up a broken political and economic system – not just be anti-Trump.»
While Mejia was the clear choice of the left flank of the party’s base, the rest of the field appeared to divide the more moderate and center-left vote.
The primary winner will face off with Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, the only Republican to file for the special election, which will be held April 16.
Hathaway will be considered the underdog in the race, in the suburban district in northern New Jersey.
Sherrill won re-election in the district in 2024 by 15 points, the same margin by which she carried the district in November’s gubernatorial showdown.
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But then-Vice President Kamala Harris won the district by just eight points in the 2024 presidential election, giving the GOP some hopes of possibly flipping the seat.
The special election comes as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218–214 majority in the House of Representatives.
democratic party,democrats elections,elections,bernie sanders,alexandria ocasio cortez,zohran mamdani,new jersey
INTERNACIONAL
Hugo Llorens: «Si la guerra se extiende, Trump y los republicanos pagarán un precio muy duro»
Las diferencias entre Irán, Irak y Afganistán
Creo que cuando uno está tratando de analizar al presidente Trump, uno tiene que esperar lo inesperado
A mí me parece que no va a ser fácil para Trump buscar eliminar el programa nuclear
Esperar lo inesperado
El concepto de una guerra, de un conflicto muy extendido con Irán, no es viable políticamente para él, particularmente en un año donde tenemos elecciones
Tendremos que ver cuál es la capacidad de los bombardeos de Estados Unidos e Israel para degradarles esa capacidad. Esto lo vamos a ver en los próximos días
Hezbollah está muy debilitado
Estados Unidos tiene ciertas limitaciones (…) tienen capacidad de mantener estas operaciones por dos semanas.
No hay ninguna lágrima que deberíamos llorar por Khamenei
El condicionamiento de MAGA
INTERNACIONAL
Iran proxies wage war on Israel, threaten US interests as Iraq slammed for not disarming them
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FIRST ON FOX: The Israeli military spokesman confirmed to Fox News Digital this week that multiple unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs, have been launched into Israel from Iraqi territory since the start of the conflict with Iran to eradicate the Islamic Republic of Iran’s illicit nuclear weapons facilities, missile systems and terrorism infrastructure.
Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, the Israeli military spokesman, said that the army has had a «near complete success» rate in stopping Iranian drones from hitting Israeli targets.
The drones fired from Iraq are presumed to come from the Iranian regime-controlled Popular Mobilization Forces, or PMF. An umbrella organization of Shiite terrorists, that attacked Israel with drones in 2024 during Israel’s war against the Tehran-backed Hamas movement.
A mourner holds a portrait of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (top-L) on March 5, 2026, during a funeral procession for members of Iraq’s pro-Iran paramilitary group Hezbollah Brigades (Kataeb Hezbollah) who were killed in a strike in Baghdad the previous day. The Tehran-backed Iraqi group Kataeb Hezbollah said on March 5 that one of its commanders was killed in a strike in southern Iraq the previous day. (Ahmed Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images)
An Iraqi Kurdish official told Fox News Digital, «Iraq has become a vessel for the Iranians. Is it so hard to see? I don’t see a distinction between the PMF and the state. They’re paid by the state, hold sovereign portfolios in this cabinet, go on foreign travel and now they’ve entered the federal legislature.»
The official continued: «In the last two decades, Iran has systemically taken over the state, weaponizing what were supposed to be institutions into tools to protect the Shia regime in Baghdad and punish any threat to it, including the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Through Baghdad and state institutions, it has economically strangled the Kurdistan Region, torn strips from our autonomy and exposed us to more attacks.»
An attack was reported on the country’s shrinking Christian community. The Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, Iraq, from the capital city of Iraqi Kurdistan, wrote on X on Thursday: «A miracle no one was injured when 2 drones struck our community, 150 meters from our Catechist Center that serves 1,000 Catholic children. Our university & schools are also closed so the young can be with their parents. Please pray for us & for all who suffer in this war.»
Kurdistan Regional Government authorities confirmed the attack and said it was carried out by two drones.
ISRAEL POUNDS HEZBOLLAH TARGETS, DARING LEBANON TO RECLAIM SOVEREIGNTY FROM IRAN-BACKED TERROR PROXY
Phillip Smyth, an expert on Shiite militias in Iraq, told Fox News Digital about the strikes on the Chaldean Catholic school that «Kata’ib Hezbollah was first to talk about it and it was likely Kata’ib Hezbollah, but it is possible it was another two pro-Iran militias because they all work together on drone launches.»
A drone attack struck an oil field operated by U.S. firm HKN Energy in Iraq’s Kurdistan region on Thursday, causing a fire and halting production, according to a Reuters report citing security sources and an oilfield engineer.
No group claimed responsibility, but Kurdish officials accused Iran-allied Iraqi militias of carrying out the attack.
If so, the attack would mean Iran‑aligned Iraqi militias, who have vowed to retaliate for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, have expanded targets from U.S. military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan to U.S. energy interests.
A mourner holds a portrait of Iran’s slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (top-L) on March 5, 2026, during a funeral procession for members of Iraq’s pro-Iran paramilitary group Hezbollah Brigades (Kataeb Hezbollah) who were killed in a strike in Baghdad the previous day. The Tehran-backed Iraqi group Kataeb Hezbollah said on March 5 that one of its commanders was killed in a strike in southern Iraq the previous day. (Ahmed Al-Rubaye/AFP via Getty Images)
Production at the field was halted as a precaution after an explosion at its power unit, the engineer told Reuters.
Some energy companies operating in Iraqi Kurdistan shut oil and gas production at their fields as a precaution after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on neighboring Iran.
Entifadh Qanbar, a former spokesman for the deputy prime minister of Iraq, echoed the comments of the Iraqi Kurdish official in his statement to Fox News Digital: «The Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) are fully funded by the Iraqi government. In fact, they are formally included as a line item in Iraq’s federal budget. Officially, more than $3 billion is allocated annually just for salaries, but when logistics, weapons, food, and other operational costs are included, the PMF’s budget likely exceeds $10 billion. That is the size of the budget of a small country in the Middle East,» he claimed.
IRAQI STATE BANK ACCUSED OF PROCESSING PAYMENTS FOR HOUTHI TERRORISTS WHO DISRUPT RED SEA COMMERCE
Qanbar said there is a way to change Iraq’s behavior: «If the United States wants to stop this situation, there are clear tools available. Sanctions must be imposed on the Iraqi government for funding these militias. Another powerful mechanism involves Iraq’s oil revenues, which are deposited at the U.S. Federal Reserve. The United States could suspend transfers of those funds unless Baghdad halts the financing of the PMF. Make no mistake: every terrorist who launches drones or rockets against Kurdistan, U.S. interests, Gulf states or military bases is effectively being paid by the Iraqi government,» he claimed.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani chairs negotiations between Iraq and the United States to end the International Coalition mission in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 27, 2024. President Joe Biden is set to host al Sudani Monday, April 15, for talks that come as tensions across the Middle East have soared over the war in Gaza and Iran’s threats to retaliate for an Israeli military strike against an Iranian facility in Syria. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, Pool)
When asked if the Islamic Republic of Iran urged Shiite militias from the PMF to fire drones at Israel, a spokesman for Iran’s U.N. mission said, «The Mission declined to comment.»
On Tuesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said his government is «not tolerating any attempt aimed at dragging Iraq into war or threatening the country’s stability,» according to Kurdistan24.
Salwan Sinjari, chief of staff to the Iraqi foreign minister, referred Fox News Digital to the Iraqi foreign ministry page for official statements by his minister and the government. He did not respond to follow-up messages and calls on whether Iraq’s government was failing to crack down on the PMF.
Iran-backed shi’ite groups fighters celebrate on a street, after the IRGC attack on Israel, in Basra, Iraq, Oct. 1, 2024. (Essam Al-sudani/Reuters)
Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein claimed the government was seeking to convince Iran-backed militias to disarm in January 2025, according to the Long War Journal.
However, Iraq’s government has issued mixed messages about the PMF over the years. In May 2025 al-Sudani was quoted as saying, «Today, the Popular Mobilization Forces constitute a basic force in defending Iraq.»
Iraq’s ambassador to the U.S. did not immediately respond to email, WhatsApp and telephone queries. A second Iraqi diplomat said he was unable to provide Fox News Digital a comment.
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The Times of Israel reported on Thursday, after military strikes eliminated a senior officer from Kataeb Hezbollah — Iraq’s largest pro-Iran militia — south of Baghdad that PMF militias pledged to strike the Middle East interests of European nations that joined in the «Zionist-American» strikes on the Islamic Republic and its proxies.
Fox News Digital reached out to the U.S. State Department.
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war with iran,iraq,terrorism,middle east,national security,global economy
INTERNACIONAL
Democrats pressure Mike Johnson to keep House in Washington over ‘rapidly developing’ Iran operation
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FIRST ON FOX: A group of Democrats is demanding that Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., keep the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C., next week in light of the «rapidly evolving» situation in Iran.
«The attacks have resulted in heightened threat assessments around the globe as well as multiple deaths, including the tragic loss of six U.S. service members. At this sensitive time, we believe it is in the best interest of our constituents if we remain in session as events continue to develop,» they wrote to the chamber’s leader on Friday.
The letter is being led by Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., and nine other members of the House Democratic Caucus, and comes nearly a week after the U.S. and Israel first launched strikes targeting Iran’s senior leadership and military assets.
They’re calling on Johnson to not only keep the House in session but encourage meetings of the committees relevant to U.S. national security in light of the heightened threat environment.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., gestures as he meets with reporters ahead of a key procedural vote to end the partial government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Feb. 3, 2026. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
«By the President’s own admission, current military operations against Iran could be sustained for weeks. The rapid developments of such an operation, and its potential impact here at home, require a firm commitment to legislative engagement,» the Democrats wrote.
«If the House of Representatives is absent during such a pivotal moment in our foreign policy, we will be failing our constituents. We urge you to cancel next week’s recess so that we may fulfill our oversight duty.»
Democrats and Republicans’ responses to the operation have largely fallen across party lines.
HOUSE VOTES TO LET TRUMP’S OPERATION EPIC FURY CONTINUE IN IRAN
Democrats have accused the administration of plunging the U.S. into another Middle East conflict without a clear ending while running roughshod over Congress’ constitutional authority. Republicans, meanwhile, maintain that the White House is acting within its authority in the best interests of the country.
Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., speaks to members of the media, following a vote at the US Capitol in Washington, D.C., June 23, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The House is out all next week as Republican lawmakers head to President Donald Trump’s Doral golf club in Florida for their annual member retreat, where they will continue to monitor developments in Washington while discussing policy for the remainder of this year.
Democrats had their own annual retreat in late February.
TRUMP SAYS ‘LOSERS’ SCHUMER, DEMS WOULD HAVE CRITICIZED ANY DECISION HE MADE ON IRAN
But as Democrats hammer Johnson for leaving D.C., Republicans are accusing them of playing politics with the national security situation themselves.
House GOP leaders held a vote on funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) using a bipartisan bill that Democrats had already walked away from weeks ago, arguing it did not do enough to rein in Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Republicans argued that the ongoing situation with Iran is worsening the effects of the ongoing DHS shutdown, which began after Democrats shunned the initial bipartisan deal.
All but four House Democrats voted against the bill on Thursday.
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«They do not want to fund the agencies whose job it is to keep Americans safe at this time of this heightened threat environment that we’re all living in,» Johnson said after the vote. «We’re concerned about sleeper cells in the country. We’re concerned about the safety of every American. And the Democrats are playing politics here.»
A House GOP leadership aide told Fox News Digital in response to Moskowitz’s letter, «Bipartisan majorities in both chambers of Congress just voted to support President Trump and Operation Epic Fury because they know the Iranian regime is a real threat to American security and Middle East stability. By contrast, most House Democrats, including Rep. Moskowitz, voted to keep the Department of Homeland Security closed in order to protect the criminal illegal immigrants they allowed into our country.»
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politics,house of representatives politics,mike johnson,war with iran
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