Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Former Rep. Tom Malinowski has conceded his loss to Analilia Mejia in the New Jersey special election for the congressional seat left by new Gov. Mikie Sherill.
Malinowski was one of 11 Democratic candidates that ran for the seat, and he lost to Mejia by 889 votes. Mejia is expected to host a press conference later Tuesday.
"I congratulate Analilia Mejia on her hard-won victory in the NJ-11 special primary. I look forward to supporting her in the April general election. It is essential that we send a Democrat to Washington to fill this seat, not a rubber stamp for Donald Trump," Malinowski said in his concession statement. "I am proud of the joyful and substantive campaign my team and I ran, and am immensely grateful to the volunteers and staff who made it possible."
Mejia will face Joe Hathaway, the Republican mayor of Randolph, N.J., on April 16. She worked for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., during his presidential campaign in 2020. Sanders, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., endorsed her.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., congratulated Mejia on her win. He said the district "deserves a representative who will stand up against the harm Trump and Republicans are doing to our state."
Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., called Mejia a "proven progressive who has done the work."
"I saw the grassroots energy up close when I campaigned with her," Espaillat said. "This moment is seismic because it proves, again, that when we bet on everyday people, everyday people win. The people spoke -- and they moved the ground beneath our politics."
Malinowski, a former diplomat and former director of Human Rights Watch, faced harsh criticism from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Malinowski blamed AIPAC for his loss.
"I met several voters in the final days of the campaign who had seen the ads and asked me, sincerely, 'Are you MAGA? Are you for ICE?'" The Hill reported.
Malinowski had been critical of Israel during its war in Gaza. He said U.S. aid to Israel should be conditioned, based on the facts on the ground of what's happening in the conflict.
But AIPAC's opposition to Malinowski may have hurt its cause because Mejia has a stronger stance on Israel, The Hill said.
Malinowski said the Democratic Party "should have nothing to do" with AIPAC, and that if the group backs another candidate he will oppose that candidate and be vocal about it with his supporters.
"The threat unlimited dark money poses to our democracy is far more significant than the views of a single member of Congress on Middle East policy," The Hill reported he said.
