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Bernie Sanders, AOC-backed Democrat wins key House race; GOP fails to expand fragile majority
Republicans fell short in their bid to flip a vacant U.S. House seat in a blue-leaning district in northern New Jersey.
Democrat Analilia Mejia, who was backed by progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of neighboring New York, defeated GOP candidate Joe Hathaway in Thursday’s special election in New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, The Associated Press reported.
With her victory, Mejia will fill the final eight months of the term of Gov. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic representative who stepped down from Congress in November after winning New Jersey’s gubernatorial election.
The special election came as the GOP clings to a fragile House majority. Republicans would have relished the opportunity to pick up the seat, but they faced an uphill climb to flip the suburban district Sherrill won by 15 points in her 2024 re-election and carried by roughly the same margin in last year’s gubernatorial election.
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Mejia, a progressive organizer who served as national political director on the 2020 Sanders presidential campaign, pulled off an upset in the February Democratic primary, narrowly edging out more a moderate rival, former Rep. Tom Malinowski, in a field of 11 candidates. While Mejia was the clear choice of the party’s left flank, the rest of the field appeared to divide the moderate and center-left vote.
Her victory was another boost for the left against the establishment after democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani sent shock waves across the nation with his Democratic primary victory in June 2025.
Hathaway, a former Randolph Township mayor and current council member who was unopposed for the GOP congressional nomination, told Fox News Digital the choice for voters was “between a common sense, practical independent leader who’s gotten things done at the local level in New Jersey and knows the issues, contrasted with someone who’s running on pure ideology, far left-wing ideology, Squad-backed ideology.”
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Mejia recently appeared at a town hall with Malinowski and, on Sunday, teamed up with Sherrill on the campaign trail as she aimed to unite Democrats, who enjoy a sizable registration advantage in the district.
Hathaway claimed Mejia was trying “to hide a little bit” from “some of her rhetoric, because she knows that those policies are completely out of touch, but it’s not fooling voters. It’s certainly not fooling us.”
Jewish voters make up a key part of the district’s electorate, and Hathaway, in the only debate in the special election, claimed Mejia was antisemitic, noting she has said Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
“She blamed Israel for the attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7,” Hathaway said. “I think Jewish individuals across this district, Republican or Democrat, are very afraid of this kind of rhetoric.”
Hathaway said, “I’ve spoken to more members of the Jewish community who have told me they’ve never voted for a Republican in their life, who are going to vote for me in this race. I mean, that shows you where the Jewish community is on the importance of this race and how they are not aligned with Mejia … and her platform.”
Mejia pledged to “protect the rights of Jewish constituents” and said her criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza should not be conflated with antisemitism.
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Mejia said, “Joe Hathaway’s inability to distinguish between criticism of a government or government official and bigotry is troubling and disgusting in equal measure.”
Mejia last week wrote that she was “honored” after being endorsed by the liberal pro-Israel political group J Street PAC. But her acceptance of the endorsement triggered pushback on the left, with the North Jersey Democratic Socialists of America calling her move a “heel turn.”
As he worked to win over independents and Democrats, Hathaway pointed out where he agrees and disagrees with President Donald Trump, who lost the district by eight points in the 2024 presidential election.
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“I’m always going to do what’s right for this district first. And I’ve been clear: If the president’s going to do things that are good for the district, increasing the SALT cap deduction, putting money back in people’s pockets, especially New Jersey, affordability is so tough here. If we’re doing things like border security, reducing fentanyl deaths like we’ve seen in our community, those are good things. I support those policies,” Hathaway said.
“But, on the other hand, if the president’s going to do things that aren’t in the best interest of our district, it’s my job to push back, and that’s exactly what I’ve done.”
Hathaway pointed to Trump’s move last year to terminate billions of federal dollars for the Gateway Project, which is funding a new train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York, and the president’s plans to cut roughly 1,000 jobs and nearly $1 billion in funding for an Army base located in New Jersey.
“I’m going to call balls and strikes in this race. I’m not going to be a rubber stamp for anybody,” Hathaway said.
“I think we have the right math, the right bipartisan coalition to come together to win this thing on April 16.”
But Hathaway came up short, given the rough political climate facing Republicans and the traditional headwinds for the party in power.
Mejia repeatedly linked Hathaway to Trump and Republicans in Congress.
“MAGA Republicans are driving up everyday costs with extreme policies my opponent supports. Healthcare and critical programs are being gutted just to fund tax breaks for the ultra-rich. We can’t afford another vote for Trump in Congress,” she wrote in a recent social media post.
Dan Cassino, a Fairleigh Dickinson University political science professor and pollster, called Hathaway’s hopes of capturing crossover Democrats “a pipe dream.”
“Democrats as a whole do not seem interested in finding common ground with Trump,” Cassino said on Monday, predicting most voters in the special election would be strong partisans.
“Democratic turnout is through the roof, and Republican turnout is depressed at this point.”
Mexican pro wrestling legends Blue Panther and Último Guerrero have been through the wringer and then some in their careers.
Panther, 65, made his wrestling debut in 1978, left Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in 1992 and then returned in 1997. Guerrero, 54, started his career in 1990 and joined CMLL in 1997.
The two have won multiple championships with the company and, on Thursday night, made more history.
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Panther and Guerrero were a part of the first solo CMLL show in the U.S. The company made its way to Las Vegas for the event for the first time in its 92-year history. They competed against each other in a legends match that turned into a must-see wrestling performance.
The two Lucha Libre giants turned back the clock to deliver a phenomenal performance. Guerrero broke out hurricanranas and a superplex from the top rope. Panther matched him with multiple suicide dives. When Guerrero stepped away from the third one, Panther hit a crossbody from the middle rope onto the floor.
Panther capped off the match with a toss from the top rope. He then pinned Guerrero for the win.
Fans who packed the Pearl Theater at the Palms Casino Resort shouted “Muchas gracias” to the two superstars, who didn’t feel like they were close at all to hanging up their boots.
The show featured Persephone defending her CMLL World Women’s Championship against Tessa Blanchard, a one-time CMLL tag-team champion and former Total Nonstop Action (TNA) world champion and knockouts champion.
Blanchard entered the venue as the ultimate heel and heard the boos from the crowd because of it. But she was not timid against the rising star Persephone. She went to work on Persephone, targeting her knee throughout the match.
Persephone would pull out all the stops to take care of Blanchard. After receiving a cutter on the apron, Persephone hit Blanchard with a gnarly German suplex.
As the match wore on, Persephone got the upper hand in the corner. She was able to reverse Blanchard’s attack and nailed her with a crucifix powerbomb for the win. She’s 3-1 against Blanchard all time.
Persephone will have a chance to win more gold Friday night when she makes her Maple Leaf Pro (MLP) debut as part of the Slam Fest event.
She’s challenging for the MLP Women’s Canadian Championship against titleholder Gisele Shaw and Shotzi Blackheart.
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Miami Catholic Charities loses $11M contract providing care for migrant children under Trump administration
The Trump administration canceled a longstanding contract with Catholic Charities in Miami, citing a drop in illegal immigration as a factor amid tensions between the president and the Pope.
On Wednesday, Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski wrote an op-ed for The Miami Herald lamenting the loss of an $11 million contract to help care for unaccompanied minors and migrant children programs, which has been active for more than 60 years. Without funding, Wenski warned, services would not even last the rest of the year.
“For more than 60 years, the Archdiocese of Miami’s services for unaccompanied minors have been recognized for their excellence and have served as a model for other agencies throughout the country,” Wenski wrote.
“Our track record in serving this vulnerable population is unmatched. Yet, the Archdiocese of Miami’s Catholic Charities’ services for unaccompanied minors has been stripped of funding and will be forced to shut down within three months.”
According to The Miami Herald, the administration informed Catholic Charities last month that funding would be canceled, prior to President Donald Trump’s comments criticizing Pope Leo XIV for disagreeing with U.S. military action in Iran.
Department of Health and Human Services press secretary Emily G. Hillard informed The Miami Herald that the decision was made because the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the border was now “significantly lower” than it was under the Biden administration.
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“[The Office of Refugee Resettlement] is closing and consolidating unused facilities as the Trump Administration continues efforts to stop illegal entry and the smuggling and trafficking of unaccompanied alien children,” Hillard said.
In a comment to Fox News Digital, White House deputy press secretary Kush Desai pointed to an X post calling the article “fake news,” adding that the administration informed 49 charities, only two of which were Catholic, last year that it would be cutting grants towards care for migrant children.
“Our historically secure border means fewer border crossings. This is good stewardship of taxpayer dollars made possible by common-sense border policies that keep the American people safe and protect our sovereignty,” Desai wrote.
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In Wenski’s opinion piece, he pushed back against the argument that fewer unaccompanied minors was an acceptable reason to discontinue funding.
“It is true that the number of unaccompanied minors entering the country has decreased. It is also understandable that some programs may be scaled back or even eliminated. But given the history and reputation of Msgr. Bryan O. Walsh Children’s Village, it is baffling that the U.S. government would shut down a program that it would be hard-pressed to replicate at the level of competence and excellence that Catholic Charities has achieved if and when future waves of unaccompanied minors reach our shores,” Wenski wrote.
The Archdiocese of Miami pointed Fox News Digital to Wenski’s op-ed when reached for comment.
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Former SMU cornerback Teddy Knox faces $2.88M judgment for crash linked to Rashee Rice’s Lamborghini race
Kansas City Chiefs star receiver Rashee Rice isn’t the only one facing discipline for a March 2024 car crash in Dallas.
Theodore “Teddy” Knox, a former SMU cornerback and teammate of Rice’s in college, was driving a Corvette while racing Rice’s Lamborghini on a Dallas highway before it caused a multi-car crash.
Knox has been hit with a $2.88 million default judgment in a lawsuit from one of those crash victims, Kathryn Kuykendall, according to ESPN.
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Knox was ruled “grossly negligent” by Judge Kim Bailey Phipps, and a default judgment comes when a lawsuit has no response or a party does not appear in court. In this case, it was reportedly the latter.
“We’ve asked the court to grant the default judgment because we’re ethically required to as a matter of diligence,” Kuykendall’s attorney, Marc Lenahan, said in a statement to ESPN when the motion was filed.
“Personally, it pleases us that Teddy hasn’t made further mistakes that we’re aware of. If a team gives him a chance to prove that he’s walking the right path now, we’ll be rooting for him.”
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This marks the third default judgment issued against Knox from the March 2024 crash. He was also ordered to pay $1.99 million to Irina Gromova and $1.63 million to Edvard Petrovskiy in combined damages.
Knox and Rice pleaded guilty to charges from the crash, and Knox was sentenced to 30 days in jail and five years of probation. Knox was charged with causing a collision involving serious bodily injury and racing on a highway causing bodily injury.
Rice had similar charges, receiving five-year deferred probation and 30 days in jail as a condition of the probation. His jail time was said to be flexible, according to the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office.
Rice was also required to pay the victims for their out-of-pocket medical expenses, which totaled around $115,000, as part of his plea agreement.
Rice was also suspended six games for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy, which he served last season.
The 25-year-old receiver said in a statement issued by his attorney at the time of the league’s decision that he’s had “a lot of sleepless nights thinking about the damages my actions caused, and I will continue working within my means to make sure that everyone impacted will be made whole.”
Knox was suspended by SMU, and he hasn’t been in college football ever since. He began his career at Mississippi State before transferring to SMU.
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