Joe Hathaway may be pushing uphill, but he's also doing something unusual for Republicans these days - criticizing Donald Trump.

Hathaway, who faces off with Analilia Mejia in Thursday's special CD-11 election, was on MS NOW recently and stressed his commitment to do what's best for the district.

Every candidate says that.

Hathaway, however, expressed unhappiness with some of what the president is doing.

More specifically, he said Trump was "playing games" with the Gateway Tunnel, a project he actually tried to terminate. (The courts stopped that from happening).

Hathaway also said that Trump's tariffs have been hurting some small businesses and that he opposed cuts to the workforce at Picatinny Arsenal, a military base in Rockaway Township.

In normal times, this would be expected, but these are not normal times.

Hathaway's comments are a departure from the many Republicans who are afraid to criticize Trump.

Recall how Jack Ciattarelli took this to the extreme last fall when he defended Trump's cancellation of the Gateway Tunnel. Just "hardball politics," he said.

Ciattarelli was overwhelmed on Election Day.

Hathaway, of course, faces a similar challenge.

Like the state itself, Democrats hold a healthy registration advantage (60,000-plus) in the district, which covers parts of Morris, Passaic and Essex counties.

In addition to showing independence from Trump, Hathaway wants to peel away Jewish voters who typically vote Democratic. He says Mejia's criticism of the Netanyahu government can put Jewish residents in New Jersey in danger.

By any analysis, that's a tough argument to make.

Many American Jews are not happy with Benjamin Netanyahu.

As for Mejia, she stresses a distinction between the Israeli government and Jews living in New Jersey.

Regarding last minute campaigning, Mejia has a virtual fundraiser set for Wednesday night with Rep. Ro Khanna of California.

Khanna made a personal visit to the district to help Mejia just before the February primary.

Wonder if Khanna will have his new friend,  Marjorie Taylor Greene, along.

Khanna and Greene appeared together recently on CNN to talk about commonality between the far left and far right. Really

Back to reality, the early vote numbers show the problem Hathaway has.

A bit more than 54,000 votes have been cast by mail or early at the polls.

About 33,000 have been from registered Dems; an estimated 13,000 from registered Republicans.

That's a big gap for Hathaway to make up on Thursday.