Are there still any New Jersey Republicans who think Donald Trump is good for their party?

If so, they're delusional, not paying attention or a combination of both.

Analilia Mejia's win in Thursday's special CD-11 election was not a surprise.

But like Mikie Sherrill's win last fall, the margin of victory was.

Mejia got almost 60 percent of the vote.

She won Morris County - once a GOP stronghold - by almost eight percentage points. She won Randolph, where her opponent Joe Hathaway is a councilman. And she won such usually-reliable Republican towns as Denville and Florham Park.

Curiously, Hathaway's central campaign message that Mejia was too left wing and that her criticism of Israel rubbed Jewish voters the wrong way was not off the mark.

Mejia was the most ideologically liberal candidate in the 11-person Democratic primary back in February. And she was unapologetic in calling Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal.

None of that stuck.

Bottom line - this is not the best time to run as a Republican.

A recent Eagleton poll put Trump's approval rating in New Jersey at less than 30 percent. Not much of a shock when you consider an unpopular war in Iran and its effect back home - $4 for a gallon of gas.

And that poll was taken before Trump deemed it good policy to start criticizing the pope - the first American pope, no less.

Really, how could a Republican win going against that?

Hathaway had shown some independence from Trump during the campaign. That was to his credit.

His Election Night statement, however, went in another direction.

He congratulated Mejia, but he also griped about the rules of the game.

He said that, "The structure and timing (of the election), set by a partisan Democratic governor, produced exactly the kind of low-turnout environment that benefits one party. We saw heavy vote-by-mail participation, limited Election Day turnout, and far too many Republican and unaffiliated voices left out of the process."

Huh?

The timing was set by law, because of the resignation of Mikie Sherrill when she became governor. And, obviously, Republicans and unaffiliated voters had the same opportunity as Democrats to vote by mail. How were they left out?

Hathaway was on more solid footing when he said his loss was just the first chapter in this saga. He said he was looking forward to a rematch in November.

Until then, Mejia will be in Washington.

History - even recent history - often gets lost.

Still, it is worth ruminating a bit about the transformation of CD-11.

From 1995 through 2018, it was represented by Rodney P. Frelinghuysen, whose family roots in America predate the Revolution. Schools. streets and towns are named after his family.

Now, it will be represented by the daughter of Colombian and Dominican immigrants.

Sure, Sherrill was the bridge between, but there's no glossing over the changing landscape.

Said state Senator Jon Bramnick (R-21): "Joe Hathaway was a terrific candidate. He suffered a 'Jack type loss.' This was another example of passion against the Trump administration. The 'Jack type losses' will continue until voters are convinced we are 'the New Jersey Republican Party' with our historic principles."