It’s primary day in NJ-11. Yeah, I know, it’s a Thursday in February and doesn’t feel like voting time, especially in New Jersey (who has their primary in June), but you will vote and you will like it if you live in the district formerly represented by Governor Mikie Sherrill. If you’re a Republican, you only have one option, so you get to live out your fetish of living in Russia today. If you’re a Democrat, you literally have 11 actual choices and two names they couldn’t get off the ballot in time. Of course, this is all for a Special Election for the rest of this year, and in June you get to do it again in the real primary, but we’ll see if all of these names actually make it to June.

There are several candidates who are a bit more prominent in this field, but for fairness purposes I’ll start out by giving you the full field first. From The New Jersey Globe:

Eleven Democrats are running in next week’s primary to succeed Sherrill, who resigned from the House in November following her election as New Jersey’s 57th governor: Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett; U.S. Army veteran Zach Beecher; lawyer and Trump impersonator J-L Cauvin; former Obama White House aide Cammie Croft; Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill; Morris Township Committeeman Jeff Grayzel; former Rep. Tom Malinowski; former Bernie Sanders for President political director Analilia Mejia; Chatham Township Committeeman Justin Strickland; former Lt. Governor Tahesha Way; and newcomer Anna Lee Williams.  Two others – Maplewood Mayor Dean Dafis and former congressional aide Marc Chaaban – have withdrawn from the race, but their names remain on the ballot.

The winner with face Republican Joe Hathaway, the mayor of Randolph, in the April 16 special election

There is virtually no public polling here, so we’re flying blind into this one. If I had to guess who has a legitimate shot today, I’d say in order it’s Malinowski, Mejia, Gill, Way, and Bartlett. Malinowski has weirdly drawn fire from AIPAC in this race, despite being a long-time ally, over saying future aide to Israel should come with conditions. I once shared an office with Mejia, she’s a very nice and capable woman, though I’d say we have a little different politics, but I wish her well. Gill has had a long career as a powerhouse operative in New Jersey politics and has been a county elected in Essex County for a few years now. Way was literally the Lieutenant Governor last month. Bartlett is a county elected. Way, Gill, and Bartlett all have pockets of support in the district that could win them this race if they show up to vote. Mejia and Malinowski have largely driven the narrative though. A win by Malinowski would weirdly be a win for moderate Democrats and a loss for AIPAC, and there’s a lot of overlap there. A win by Mejia would be a big win for progressives. If I had to bet today, I’d bet on Malinowski winning narrow. But we’ll see tonight.