Analilia Mejia Draws a BIG Crowd in Bloomfield for Volunteer Canvass with Make the Road Action NJ

Members of Make the Road Action & Community Leaders turn out to Volunteer  following the group’s endorsement in the race for NJ-11

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Nearly 100 members of Make the Road Action NJ braved the cold to knock on doors for Analilia Mejia’s congressional campaign on Saturday in downtown Bloomfield, marking a significant grassroots mobilization effort ahead of the February 5 special primary election for NJ-11.

The rally and canvass followed Make the Road Action NJ’s endorsement of Mejia earlier this week. Volunteers gathered at the plaza across from the Bloomfield NJ Transit station before knocking on doors in Bloomfield and neighboring communities.

“I am not a politician, I am an organizer,” Analilia Mejia said to the crowd. “I am not a candidate with the political machine. I am a candidate who has community, who has people, who understands that our people are tired of politicians who use their positions to enrich themselves. This is a moment in which we, the community, must take power. We will not settle.”

Mejia, the former director of the New Jersey Working Families Party, led successful campaigns for New Jersey’s $15 minimum wage and statewide paid sick leave laws before serving as Bernie Sanders’ national political director in 2020 and later in the Biden Labor Department.

Speaking in Spanish and English, Mejia connected her campaign to her family. Mejia is the daughter of Colombian and Dominican immigrants; her family struggled to make ends meet until her mom got a union job at a factory.

"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for the policies that liberated and uplifted my family," Mejia said. "I decided as a young child that I would dedicate myself to building that for other people. That is the kind of service I believe you should send to Congress."

The special election for NJ-11 is on Thursday, February 5, 2026.