MADISON - A spectre is haunting the midterm elections - the spectre of socialism.

A bit dramatic, but socialism surrounds so many of the races this fall.

Take CD-11, a Democratic-leaning district covering parts of Essex, Morris and Passaic counties.

Joseph Hathaway, the Republican candidate, spent a good part of a "town hall" Wednesday evening talking about the dangers of "socialism."

This was no academic exercise. His opponent, incumbent Analilia Mejia, is a progressive and supporter of Bernie Sanders.

Speaking to about 50 people in the borough's Community House, Hathaway said he fears what socialism can do to the traditional American way of life.

To that end, he highlighted some of the positions of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which include abolishing police and the prison system and also getting rid of the president and Supreme Court. Under this plan, the chief executive and judiciary would be subordinate to Congress.

On the DSA's social media page currently is a glowing tribute to Fidel Castro, who was born 100 years ago. One presumes many Cuban immigrants living in New Jersey may disagree.

It is worth noting that Mejia does not call herself a Democratic socialist. She says she is a progressive Democrat.

Still, Hathaway is trying to tar Mejia with some of the DSA's most extreme positions.
More generally, he criticized Mejia's "lurch to the left" since she won the special April election.

He said the now congresswoman is more concerned with national left wing ideology than she is with serving the district.

As a councilman - and former mayor - in Randolph, Hathaway says he knows the ins and outs of local government. That's not sexy, he admits, but it's important.

Hathaway knows he is in a tough fight.

Mikie Sherrill won the district in 2018, and it became more Democratic after the 2020 Census.

Hathaway stresses his willingness to embrace district needs even if it means disagreeing with Donald Trump.

He has been outspoken in criticizing the president for more than once trying to hold up funding for the Gateway Tunnel.

And on Wednesday, he said he disagreed with the president's tariffs, because they can hurt small businesses.

Hathaway also said he understood why some in the country- especially the young - are drifting towards socialism.

He related a conversation he recently had with a young socialist-leaning fellow while campaigning at the Maplewood train station.

To people struggling, Hathaway said, "the free lunch looks pretty good."

He said Republicans have to do a better job understanding the economic pain some are experiencing.

However, he is certain Mejia is not the answer, saying her views are "inherently out of step" with the basically suburban district.
Specifically, he criticized her call for a $25 an hour federal minimum wage. Even if that is phased in, he said it would hurt small businesses and devastate parts of the country (like the south) where wages are not that high to begin with. The point is businesses would not be able to absorb a huge wage increase.

AI is now a big issue. Just last week, Mejia said she wanted a global moratorium on AI development to encourage guardrails.

Hathaway disagreed, saying such a thing is impossible.