By Yasmin Abrar

Republican Joe Hathaway, a candidate for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District, gave a press conference for student journalists at the Princeton Summer Journal on July 29. As the former mayor of Randolph, New Jersey and a political science major at Yale University, Hathaway highlighted issues of affordability and safety as the core of his policies. 

His opponent, Congresswoman Analilia Mejia, was elected in April during a special election. Her policies mainly consist of increasing the minimum wage, universal healthcare and the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Hathaway, who prides himself on being a moderate Republican, previously blasted Mejia on social media for being a “far-left activist.” One topic where he and Mejia differ the most is on Israel and its actions in Palestine, which the United Nations has determined to be a genocide.

Mejia has been critical of Israel and has stated that it is committing war crimes in Gaza, while Hathaway has continuously supported Israel as an ally of the U.S. and told the Princeton Summer Journal that “Israel’s our lone Western ally in the Middle East.”

When asked about balancing Israel’s security within the Middle East and humanitarian concerns in Gaza, Hathaway said, “We can support our allies, we can make sure that they have the tools they need to protect themselves and defend themselves…. We can ensure that humanitarian aid flows, and we can make sure that Israel is able and has the right to defend itself.”

Hathaway explained that the district he is seeking to represent has a large Jewish population; he connected with them after the Hamas attack in 2023, when he was on the Randolph town council.

“There’s nothing that kind of prepares you for something like that, when you’re at the local level,” he said. “I remember very distinctly going over to one of the local synagogues in town, October 9th or 10th, maybe. And just being with the families there. And a lot of folks had families over in Israel that were missing or they weren’t sure,” Hathaway said.

That experience influenced his support for Israel, he explained.

“It’s my job to be here and to be with this community and to be supportive of them, staying with them.”

By Trinity Falayi

As the MAGA movement becomes dominant in the Republican party, the status quo is to champion Donald Trump’s policies. In one New Jersey district, there’s a moderate Republican candidate willing to stand against his own party. But how far will he go? Can Joe Hathaway maintain his moderate stance? Or is it just a matter of time before he falls in line? 

Hathaway, a Yale graduate and Mayor of Randolph, New Jersey, is running for office in the state’s 11th Congressional district, with just three months left before voters cast their ballots in November. In his race against Democrat Analilia Mejia, Hathaway’s main campaign promise is to increase affordability for New Jersey residents. 

“You can’t afford to buy a house anymore in New Jersey,” said Hathaway in a press conference with the Princeton Summer Journal. “I believe the government needs to make things work smarter and more practical… I think we have an opportunity to do that in this race.” 

When pressed on his willingness to go against the Republican party, Hathaway pointed out that he’s done it before.

“I have a track record of voting against my all-Republican council at the local level when I believe it’s the wrong thing for our constituents,” he said.

Hathaway also opposed President Donald Trump’s attacks on the Gateway Program, which would increase rail capacity between New Jersey and New York. 

“There’ve been plenty of times where I’ve said, ‘This isn’t right for my district,’ and I oppose it,” Hathaway said. “I think one of the biggest examples was the Gateway Tunnel funding… I was one of the first Republicans in Jersey that really pushed back strongly on that.” 

Addressing concerns about data centers, which CBS News reports could increase electricity bills by up to 20 percent, Hathaway emphasized the affordability of alternative energy sources.

“We have to increase our capability when it comes to nuclear [energy]… That’s going to bring down costs immediately,” he said.

Hathaway says his focus on affordability outweighs his total loyalty to the Republican Party, a position that may appeal to voters in his majority-Democratic district. 

“If I come back to NJ-11 and talk about how I was willing to buck my party and buck the president because it wasn’t good for voters here in NJ-11… [The] district is one that has enough voters on all sides of the aisle, where that message will be rewarded,” he said. 

By Roxanna Rozehee

Republican congressional candidate Joe Hathaway, running in New Jersey’s 11th District, discussed his campaign promises during a press conference with Princeton Summer Journal student journalists on Wednesday. He promised affordability and a practical ideological approach for the district.

Councilman Hathaway is the former mayor of Randolph, New Jersey. He opened the conference with a reflection on his career of over fifteen years in corporate communications and stressed the importance of individuality.

He shared a personal anecdote of experiencing imposter syndrome while attending Yale University, reassuring students not to contrast themselves with others. “Don’t compare yourself to the people around you,” he said. “Compare yourself to yourself, to the best version of yourself.”

Shifting the conversation to the campaign, Hathaway noted that the race has entered a pivotal stage, remarking that Election day is now 100 days away. He argued that voters had sufficient time to evaluate the record of current Democratic Representative Analilia Mejia and contrasted his platform with her initiatives.

Hathaway described himself as a “common sense, practical, independent-minded Republican, someone who served at the local level, knows how government works, [and] also knows how it could work a whole lot better for New Jersey especially.” 

He focused on decreasing the cost of living and throughout the press conference, he repeatedly remarked that affordability is the defining issue facing New Jersey residents, pointing to rising housing prices, education costs and energy bills.

Among his economic proposals, Hathaway stressed decreasing taxes, increasing vocational education, and strengthening domestic manufacturing. Rather than relying on increasing the minimum wage, he believes the government should foster opportunities that allow workers to earn higher-paying careers through increased skills and workforce development.

Hathaway elaborated on his energy policy. He argued that increasing nuclear energy should be central to meeting future electricity demands, specifically as artificial intelligence increases the need for data centers. While acknowledging public concerns regarding new facilities, he stated that properly planned data centers are necessary for maintaining American leadership in AI and that increased energy production would lead to decreased utility costs for New Jersey residents.

Hathaway defended U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while simultaneously advocating for increased oversight through body cameras and improved equipment. He criticized New Jersey’s sanctuary policies, however he supported immigration reform that would provide long-term undocumented immigrants with a pathway to permanent legal status.

Addressing the district’s Democratic majority, Hathaway said his campaign aims to attract moderate voters exasperated with political extremism. “People are tired of extremism across the board. You look to the left, you look to the right, there’s too much extremism. There is only one candidate in this race who’s willing to come to the middle. It’s me, and that’s a message we’re getting down, and I think what we do will be successful.”

By Greyson McMillian

Joe Hathaway is a self-proclaimed community-focused Republican candidate who is running for Congress in the November midterms after his loss during a special election just over three months ago to Democrat Analilia Mejia — who assumed office in April.

Speaking about his campaign to high school journalists for the Princeton Summer Journal, Hathaway stated that while he and Mejia ran on similar campaign issues — lowering high costs and raising low opportunities — his opponent’s candidacy has focused instead on “ideology, hyperpartisanship, extremism and more of what we’ve come to see as the furthest extremes of her side of the aisle.” 

Further characterizing his opponent as an extremist and someone who does not deliver on her campaign promises, Hathaway criticized Mejia’s vote against the Stop Insider Trading Act and the absence of a vote on the Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act. “And that’s just what she’s done in Washington,” he said, followed by the claim that Mejia was “sparking more riots and chaos” during protests this spring at Delaney Hall, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark.

Mejia was invited but unable to attend the Princeton Summer Journal press conference.

Not only did Hathaway heavily criticize Mejia, but he also used these characterizations as a foil for his own campaign, which he claimed was “a path of a new generation of common sense, of practicality, of track record and of government that works well for people at the local level.”

When asked about how he’d sway a majorly Democratic district to vote for him, he said that “people are tired of just extremism across the board. If you look to the left, you look to the right, there’s too much extremism.” 

Hathaway said that he — and not his opponent — was the counter to such extremism. “There is only one candidate in this race who’s willing to come to the middle. It’s me,” he said.

Hathaway also highlighted what he said was a lack of experience on Mejia’s part by contrasting his own surplus of expertise: “I think what our district sees is a choice between someone who’s running on ideology and someone running on practicality, right? Who served as a mayor, who served as a councilman, who has ideas that actually get to the heart of what the main challenges are for us in New Jersey.”