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DENVILLE, N.J. (AP) — Democrat Analilia Mejia won a New Jersey special election for the U.S. House on Thursday, defeating Republican Joe Hathaway on a message of standing up to President Donald Trump.

Mejia, a former head of the Working Families Alliance who had support from Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, will fill the seat previously held by Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill and serve until January.

Her victory keeps the seat in the 11th District, once a GOP stronghold, in Democratic hands ahead of this year's midterm elections and adds to a string of victories for the party. The Associated Press called the race for Mejia minutes after the polls closed.

READ MORE: 'We got our butts kicked.' Republicans rattled by Democratic momentum ahead of midterms

Mejia emerged from a crowded primary in February and cast the race as a test of Trump's leadership. She criticized his pardons of people convicted of Jan. 6-related crimes and faulted him for freezing funds authorized by Congress.

Hathaway tried to use Mejia's progressive credentials to his advantage, as national Republicans cast her as a socialist.

"I'm running to bring common-sense leadership to D.C & deliver results for our families, not push a far-left agenda," Hathaway said in a recent social media post.

They could go head to head again in November's election for a full two-year term.

The 11th District, which covers parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties in northern New Jersey's wealthy suburbs, was long a Republican stronghold but has become increasingly Democratic since Trump's first term.

READ MORE: Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill wins New Jersey governor's race

Sherrill first won the seat in 2018's midterm elections, when Democrats flipped dozens of seats to take control of Congress. In 2024 she won reelection by about 15 points, while Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, carried the district by nearly 9 points.

Saran Cunningham, an 86-year-old retired special educator, said she was initially reluctant to support Mejia, worried that her views were too far to the left. She backed another candidate in the primary. But recently, outside the Morristown early polling location, she said she would now vote for Mejia.

"I think we've been tilting a little bit more to the right lately, which worries me," Cunningham said. "I think that we need people in Congress who will fight for things that will help people as opposed to hurting them."

Rob Berkowitz, 62, cast his early vote for Hathaway at the Denville polling station. Describing himself as a conservative, Berkowitz gave Trump high marks on immigration, the economy and the war in Iran, comparing him to Winston Churchill. He criticized the Democratic Party for moving away from leaders in the style of Harry Truman, whom he praised.

"They want borders wide open. They don't want to enforce existing immigration laws," Berkowitz said. "It's an extraordinary thing to watch."

The February Democratic primary pitted Mejia against former Rep. Tom Malinowski and others in a race where the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was a key player. The group's affiliated super PAC tried to thwart Malinowski after he questioned unconditional aid to the Israeli government. That effort appeared to backfire as Mejia, who said she agreed that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, came out on top.

Mejia campaigned on populist economic policies and pushing to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Over the years she has been a regular presence in the state Capitol, advocating for progressive causes, and was Sanders' political director during his 2020 presidential run. During the Biden administration, she was deputy director of the Labor Department's Women's Bureau.

In addition to winning Sanders' endorsement, she was backed by U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Hathaway, a former Yale University football player, has worked in health care and finance as well as in politics as an aide for former GOP Gov. Chris Christie.

-- Mike Catalini, Associated Press