The chaotic 12-way Democratic primary for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District has dramatically crystallized into a stark three-way battle, following a week of scorching personal attacks that have exposed the profound ethical and personal baggage carried by two leading establishment figures.
On one side, a bruising and costly civil war has erupted between genocidal, carpet-bagging, former congressional stock trader Tom Malinowski and Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill, whose campaigns are now defined by mutual allegations of corruption, cowardice, and disqualifying behavior.
On the other hand, progressive champion Analilia Mejia watches the implosion, her campaign buoyed by a landmark endorsement from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that solidifies her as the singular standard-bearer for a movement demanding clean government.
The detonation came as Gill launched the race’s first major television offensive—a six-figure ad blitz that doesn’t just critique Malinowski, but brands him a self-serving traitor.
One ad features a former voter declaring Malinowski “sold us out,” a direct assault on the congressional ethics investigation that clouded his single term.
The probe, which found Malinowski repeatedly failed to disclose stock trades—including during the pandemic—resulted in a substantial fine and became a central factor in his 2022 defeat.
Gill’s ad reframes Malinowski’s attempted comeback not as redemption, but as a greedy carpetbagging mission.
Malinowski, for his part, carries the inescapable stench of the scandal that ended his congressional career.
His failure to comply with basic transparency laws wasn’t a minor oversight; it was a pattern of concealment while serving on committees overseeing the industries in which he traded.
His subsequent move into the 11th District to seek a safer seat has been branded an act of pure political convenience by opponents, painting him as an insider who believes the rules are for others.
Gill, however, is launching these attacks from a glass house of his own.
He is dogged by multiple, on-the-record allegations of fostering a “toxic” and “misogynistic” environment as manager of Governor Phil Murphy’s 2017 campaign.
Veteran strategist Julie Roginsky has publicly stated Gill called her a vile misogynistic slur, an allegation that sparked an internal review and has resurfaced with a super PAC now backing Malinowski.
Roginsky got fired after she was called “the C-word” by Gill, while he was manager of the Goldman Sachs millionaire’s first campaign, and one of Gill’s subordinate staffers allegedly raped a female volunteer.
Gill’s decision to accept backing from a labor leader repeatedly described in federal court as an associate of the Genovese crime family has sparked serious concerns about his judgment and loyalties.
This mutually assured destruction should clear the field for Analilia Mejia, the seasoned organizer who began her campaign with the support of her former boss, Senator Bernie Sanders, and now enters the final three weeks with rocket fuel from Ocasio-Cortez.
“Analilia Mejia is a fighter for working people who has been on the frontlines of some of our most critical battles,” Ocasio-Cortez said in her endorsement, framing Mejia as the antidote to a politics of self-dealing.
Mejia’s coalition is a formidable assembly of people-power built over years in New Jersey’s progressive and labor circles.
It includes the Working Families Party she once led, the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and a unified front of major unions.
Also among Mejia’s roster of endorsements are Make the Road Action New Jersey; Popular Democracy Action; New Jersey Citizen Action; SEIU New Jersey State Council; 32BJ-SEIU; CWA Local 1037; and the Rutgers AAUP-AFT.
Mejia’s team marks a clear departure from the cartoonishly corrupt and weak Democratic Party establishment, embodied by the two men who are tearing into each other’s character.
The choice for voters, with mail-in ballots already returned and the February 5th primary imminent, is now unmistakable: a former congressman condemned for unethical stock trading, a county commissioner accused of toxic misogyny and questionable alliances, or a progressive organizer with unquestioned integrity and a unified movement behind her.
The establishment’s brawl has become Mejia’s opportunity, transforming a crowded scramble into a historic referendum on integrity.
AOC’s endorsement of Mejia draws a stark line between the established Democratic guard and an insurgent wing demanding a more confrontational politics.
“Analilia Mejia is a fighter for working people,” said Ocasio-Cortez, highlighting Mejia’s work on immigrant rights, universal healthcare, and corporate accountability. The congresswoman’s backing provides Mejia with a potent national megaphone and a clear ideological brand as the race’s progressive champion.
Mejia, a former national political director for Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign, faces a primary field thick with opponents, but the rare Thursday special election will be decided by the few Democrats who are paying attention to what’s happening amid political distraction created by President Donald Trump’s unimpeded assault on democracy.
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