Progressives are flexing their muscle in NJ this week and winning. But the process to upend the political system in NJ began back in 2017 when a group of organizers under the banner of Our Revolution, first ran a Bernie slate of county candidates and began to challenge the belief we could not win against the county line.

Then comes the 2024 US Senate race, were two Progressives candidates Larry Hamm and I, and a good government anti-corruption candidate, Andy Kim, challenged the endorsed and favored Democratic party candidate for US Senate, Tammy Murphy. Together we challenged the party county line system that overwhelmingly favored county endorsed candidates. When the courts ruled to change the county ballot design system, it opened opportunities for independent candidates to make their case directly to voters.

This was a seismic change to the NJ political establishment. County party leaders could no longer literally block a candidate, like Camden Co Democrats blocked me, from taking our message directly to party county committee leaders and to voters. This moment transformed local county endorsements and created more opportunities at the county level so local party leaders could see the breath of talent and diversity we have in our Democratic party.

The ending of the county line in 2024 resulted in a fairer election system where three candidates, Andy Kim, Larry Ham and I (Patricia Campos-Medina) appeared on a Democratic primary ballot, all listed as candidates for one office, the US Senate. This change simply meant giving voters a real choice of who to vote based on our message, not on favoritism by party bosses. Andy Kim went on to win the 2024 Democratic primary and general election and became our US Senator. He continues today to champion an anti-corruption and good government platform and is making NJ politics more transparent with his clear vision for a government that works for people.

In 2025, with the party county line gone, many candidates joined the race for Governor; we had conservative, moderates and progressives join the field and began sharing their message with NJ voters. Mayor Ras Baraka, by far the most progressive of all the candidates, came in a close second to Mikie Sherill, a centrist-left candidate who went on to win the Governor’s race.

Fast forward to 2026 and the era of regular selected party candidates is over, shaken by Analilia Mejia’s victory in the special election to replace Mikie Sherill in the CD-11 Congressional seat.

No one saw the growing groundswell of support for a REAL progressive candidate, someone who could mobilize national and local support for core Democratic values, fighting for working people. All political experts believed CD-11 was a moderate bastion; a district that would stay safely in the middle. The donor class and Democratic insiders expected a regular establishment candidate to win and threw their support behind the two party candidates, Tom Malinowski and Brendan Gill.

That’s when Analilia Mejia comes in with a clear message to fight for working people; to stand up to billionaires and to Donald Trump. She was unapologetic on her pro-immigrant, pro-peace and anti-dark money spending on elections. She is a strong union organizer, a bad-ass Afro-Latina woman, speaking the language of a pro-worker pro family agenda that was serious in calling out abuse of power by Washington DC. She courageously called for the abolishment of ICE and for accountability in our foreign policy—no more inhumane wars that destabilizes our ability to invest in our domestic priorities; Medicare for All, Student Debt relief, good jobs, and on providing affordable housing to citizens in CD-11.

Analilia’s message met the moment of the electorate hungry for a fighter for their economic anxiety. Despite her opponents well-funded war chest, including those infused by AIPAC money, she won a crowded primary election and went on to solidly win the district by a groundswell support from voters. Today she is the Congresswoman elected to succeed Mike Sherill in CD-11. Her victory proves voters want authentic leaders with the courage to stand up for working people. New Jerseyans wants fighters!

Our Progressive movement is gaining momentum and growing. We have many other progressive candidates running in CD-12, where respected Progressive leader Bonnie Watson-Coleman is retiring. As of today, there are twelve candidates running in the primary. What a feat! Those of us who fought for years to abolish the line, are so excited to see so many qualified and diverse candidates step up to compete.  This is making new voters excited about the process and engaging with their preferred candidates. This is how Democracy is supposed to work; voters have options.

In the past, the regular party power brokers would meet behind closed doors and choose a candidate to replace a retiring candidate; they would give them the county line, and all competition would be eliminated. All the candidates in CD-12 have many different positions and represent the talent and the diversity of the district. This field has several progressive candidates running, all making their case directly to voters. Who will rise as the lead progressive is not yet clear, but it is a sigh of relief to see progressive candidate of the caliber of Dr. Adam Hamawy and Sue Altman debate who is indeed the most progressive candidate living up to the legacy of our beloved Rep. Watson Coleman.

In north-western NJ in CD-7, a race to unseat Tom Kean Jr., in a conservative leaning district, is also shaping up to be a battle between a moderate candidate Rebecca Bennet and Progressive Democrat, self-made entrepreneur Brian Varela. Brian has the grassroots momentum, a campaign fueled by volunteers and his pro-immigrant pro-peace platform, and a list of local endorsements that expand between conservative leaders to progressive stalwart Mayor Ras Baraka and Make the Road Action. Brian Varela has the pro-working people message and is building a grassroots campaign. We will see again if the anti-Trump sentiment that carried Mike Sherrill and Analilia Mejia to victory, coupled with a real progressive message, can make a case to CD-7 voters that Tom Kean Jr is a Trump hack, with no agenda that focuses on NJ.

I have been in the trenches of the Progressive grassroots movement with Analilia Mejia for a long time; we both work for low wage unions such as UNITE, UNITEHERE and SEIU and we stood for the Fight for $15 and paid-family leave. She joined our Latina Civic efforts to build the bench for Progressive Latinas to run for office, and I joined her efforts in 2016 to build grassroots support for Bernie Sanders for President in NJ. I was ecstatic when in 2020 she moved to the national scene to organize the #NotMeUs revolution and help Bernie compete on his race for President. She is a relentless organizer, and she will take that same fighter spirit to her new role as an elected official representing the citizens of NJ and CD-11.

Our Democratic party is indeed the big-tent party; we are the ones with the momentum to defeat the anti-Democratic authoritarian pro-billionaire agenda of Donald Trump.

It is time for the donor class of our party to see that there is power on having an energized base. The expanded field of qualified diverse working-class candidates in our primary elections is a strength we should build upon to engage more voters and indeed built a diverse coalition that can take back government from corporate barons. As Democrats, let’s embrace the competition in our primaries and unite on our values to stand up for our Democracy.

That’s the message that will defeat Donald Trump and build a real movement to change our economy to work for working people.

Congratulations Analilia Mejia on your hard won victory and thank you for bringing the #NotMeUs revolution to NJ!

Patricia Campos-Medina is a Progressive Democrat, a former candidate for the US Senate in NJ, a labor and policy leader. You can follow her on social media @DrCamposMedina