Analilia Mejia ( ; ; born 1978 or 1979) is an American activist, politician, and co-director of the nonprofit progressive advocacy group Center for Popular Democracy. She previously worked as the national political director for Bernie Sanders's 2020 presidential campaign and served in the United States Department of Labor during the Biden administration. Mejia is the Democratic nominee in the 2026 New Jersey's 11th congressional district special election.
Mejia was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to a mother from Colombia and a father from the Dominican Republic, her father worked in a sewing maching factory and her mother worked in a garment factory; her mother was initially undocumented. Raised in her birth city, she earned an undergraduate degree in comparative literature from Rutgers University in 2000, a Masters of Public Policy from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy in 2002, and a master's in labor relations and education from the School of Management and Labor Relations in 2003.
Mejia worked as an organizer with the United Food and Commercial Workers, served as political director of SEIU Local 32BJ, Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union, and as assistant political director at UNITE HERE in Chicago.
In the 2012 United States Senate election in New Jersey, Mejia was the Latino/Labor Vote Director for incumbent Bob Menendez's campaign. Starting in 2014, she was executive director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance, an affiliate of the Working Families Party. In the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, Mejia was a delegate for Bernie Sanders. In 2019, she left the New Jersey Working Families Alliance to serve as national political director for Sanders's 2020 presidential campaign.
Mejia was appointed deputy director of the United States Women's Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor during the Joe Biden administration. She is currently co-executive director of the Center for Popular Democracy.
On November 25, 2025, Mejia announced her candidacy for the special election to New Jersey's 11th congressional district after Mikie Sherrill, the incumbent representative, was elected governor of New Jersey. She and 10 other candidates, including former U.S. representative Tom Malinowski and former lieutenant governor Tahesha Way, ran in the Democratic primary. Mejia ran as a progressive, with endorsements from U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. During the primary, she spoke at a rally in Wayne, New Jersey as part of Sanders's Fighting Oligarchy tour.
On election night, February 5, 2026, Decision Desk HQ and the New Jersey Globe called the election for Malinowski, who was leading in the counted votes. But both retracted their calls after Mejia surpassed Malinowski later that night. On February 10, Malinowski conceded, though no major news outlet had yet called the race. Later that day, CNN called the race for Mejia. The Associated Press declared Mejia the winner on February 12.
Meija supports universal health care coverage (Medicare for All), tuition-free public college, student loan forgiveness, the PRO Act, strengthening unions and expanding labor protections, a nationwide $25 minimum wage, affordable housing, tenant protections, and regulation of AI data centers and Big Tech companies.
Mejia has called for the abolition of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and resistance to what she has called "rising authoritarianism". She has said she believes Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Mejia resides in Glen Ridge, New Jersey, with her husband, Robert Rogers, their two sons, and her parents. Mejia is Lutheran and a member of St. Stephan's ELCA Church.