Politics > New Jersey

Meet the New Socialist Congresswoman from New Jersey!

Ananlilia Mejia’s decisive win in the seat formerly held by New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill should send political shockwaves. 

Chris Talgo | April 18, 2026

Amidst the ongoing conflict in Iran, a major political event took place in the United States on April 16, 2026, that deserves more attention and scrutiny than the mainstream media will likely devote to it. The event to which I refer to is the victory of Analilia Mejia in the New Jersey special election for congressional district 11.

Mejia’s decisive win in the seat formerly held by New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill should send political shockwaves because I think it is more than fair to say that she will likely be perhaps the most socialistic member of Congress.

When asked if she would join “The Squad” shortly before the election, Mejia played coy. However, she was endorsed very early in the race by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), a self-avowed democratic socialist, who holds much sway within the Squad.

“Analilia Mejia is a fighter for working people who has been on the frontlines of some of our most critical battles -- from immigrant rights and universal healthcare to higher wages and real accountability for the powerful. I know she will bring that fight to Congress on day one and I am proud to support her run to represent NJ-11 in Congress,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a statement on January 15.

On January 19, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) appeared at a rally for Meija, cementing her socialist bona fides to any who thought she might downplay her socialist side during the campaign.

To her credit, Mejia has been mostly transparent when it comes to her socialist policy agenda.

According to her campaign website, she will vote for universal childcare, Medicare for All, “free public college,” and the “cancelation of all student loan debt.”

“In Congress, I’ll fairly tax billionaires and corporations -- and we’ll use the money to pay for child care for every American,” she says.

“We need Medicare for All, now -- no exceptions,” she declares without mentioning a word of how this massive expansion of an already beleaguered federal health care apparatus would be funded. Let me guess: Tax the billionaires! They’ll probably just play possum and pay for it.

“In Congress, I will champion the Homes for All Act to build 8.5 million units of public housing over the next 10 years.” Wow, that sounds like a fabulous idea because more government-run housing is obviously the solution to the home affordability crisis plaguing millions of young Americans. Last time I checked, public housing, via state or federal, does not have the best track record of success.

In my neck of the woods, Chicago, public housing like Cabrini-Green and the Robert Taylor Homes were monumental failures.

“I’ll fight to make college tuition free… and we’re going to cancel all student loan debt,” she proudly states. Again, not a peep on how exactly this multi-trillion-dollar spending spree would be funded.

She supports “expanding” the Supreme Court “to restore balance,” “articles of impeachment against Justices Thomas and Alito,” and “term limits for newly appointed Supreme Court justices.”

Based on her sound research, she has surmised that the “Supreme Court has been captured by right-wing radicals who care more about doing Trump’s bidding than the rule of law. This is the result of a 50-year anti-democratic campaign by conservative billionaires and the Federalist Society to pack the courts and undermine our democracy.” Thus, court packing is the only option.

Unsurprisingly, Mejia assumes, without any basic arithmetic, that her socialist revolution can be paid for by soaking the wealthy.

“We need to tax investment income at the same rate as earned income,” she flatly states. Does she not realize that this would result in a massive redistribution of capital from the lifeblood of the U.S. economy: research and development? This revenue grab would totally retard economic innovation, technological leaps, and the incentive to take risk on budding inventions and products that are not yet ready for debut on the mass market. It also would not come even close to funding all the programs Mejia desires.

Penultimately, it must be noted that Mejia has posted some very telling statements on social media over the years.

In 2019, she tweeted, “Will anyone who decries socialism, please return/abstain from Public edu, transportation, Police and Fire dpts, libraries, every branch of the US military, Roads &highways, Social Security, Medicare/medicaid, the VA, public parks, toilets, PUBLIC ANYTHING! Thanks.” What a compelling argument, huh?

In 2023, she decried, “the RAMPANT Anti blackness that dominates this nation as well as the role police forces play in upholding this INVISIBLE PLANTATION.”

Last but not least, I find it interesting that New Jersey’s 11th congressional district just happens to be one of the most highly educated and wealthiest in the entire Garden State. In other words, this is limousine liberalism/champaign socialism at its worst. The highly educated and wealthy liberals who vote for socialists like Mejia do not feel the wrath of these awful policies. But they can pat themselves on the back for being good social justice warriors.

Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.

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