Despite our town’s small size, Glen Ridge never fails to display its broader impacts, especially through proud residents like Analilia Mejia. Mejia, who has become an influential voice in progressive politics across the United States, recently declared victory in the Democratic primary for Mikie Sherill’s now-vacant congressional seat– NJ-11. On April 16th, she is set to face Republican Joe Hathaway for the official Special Election. Known for her work as a labor organizer and progressive political strategist, Mejia has built a career focused on advocating for workers’ rights and economic opportunity.
In the late 1970s, Mejia was born in nearby Elizabeth to immigrant parents from Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Growing up in a working-class household shaped her perspective on economic inequality and labor rights. Her mother worked long hours as a seamstress and held a variety of other jobs, one being at a unionized garment factory in NYC. Mejia often cites these experiences, and that job in particular, as motivating factors for her advocacy for working families. Later, she attended Rutgers, where she studied public policy and labor relations. During and after college, she became involved in organizing workers and advocating for stronger labor protections.
Before entering electoral politics, Mejia spent many years in various labor-organizing positions. She held roles in several major unions, including the Service Employees International Union and UNITE HERE, where she helped workers organize for better wages, benefits, and working conditions. She later served as executive director of the NJ Working Families Party, leading campaigns and supporting winning initiatives to institute a $15 minimum wage, paid sick leave, and a millionaires tax. She was the National Political Director for Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, and later, Deputy Director for the Women’s Bureau at the Department of Labor under Biden. Today, she is the Co-Executive Director of Popular Democracy, conducting community-based pushback against Trump and fighting to restore just Democracy. Her wide-ranging political advocacy experience has made her a seasoned candidate for NJ-11, fit to represent the rights of working families in government.
In 2025, Mejia announced her candidacy for NJ-11’s special election. NJ-11 includes towns such as Montclair, Bloomfield, and Glen Ridge, as well as portions of Morris and Passaic County. Her campaign is centered around helping build an equitable economy that works for everyone. The main initiatives she hopes to pass in Congress include:
- Making paid sick leave federal law
- Fairly taxing billionaires and corporations, and mobilizing the profits towards childcare
- Raising the federal minimum wage to $25 per hour
- Fighting monopolies and corporate mergers in favor of small businesses
- Making sure big tech companies pay adequately and use sustainable energy in AI data centers
- Comprehensive and universal healthcare plans
- Building public housing units and minimizing private involvement in the housing stock
- Restoring work on the Gateway tunnel and garnering more funds for NJ Transit
- Cancelling student loan debt and lowering tuition costs for working-and middle-class families
- Guaranteeing workers’ right to unionize through progressive legislation
Furthermore, she wishes to remove additional funding from the Department of Homeland Security and work towards abolishing ICE in favor of a more favorable and equitable immigration system. She has received significant endorsements in her campaign, most notably from Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
As a Glen Ridge resident, raising two children in town, her story and campaigns show how issues plaguing communities across the entire country are being mitigated close to home. Right here in Glen Ridge, a Congressional candidate works to hone in on solutions to workers’ issues, economic inequality, and housing crises. Whether through labor organizing, government service, or running for office, her career exemplifies the path a community member can take to influence public policy.
