In a shocking turn of events, Analilia Mejia, a progressive Democrat and former head of the Working Families Alliance, has clinched victory in New Jersey’s 11th district special election, a result that experts are calling ‘statistically indistinguishable from random chance.’

Mejia attributed her win to a cutting-edge campaign strategy: mailing life-sized cardboard cutouts of Donald Trump to Republican voters in the hope they’d get too distracted to vote. Observers noted that turnout reached historic highs, with at least 19% of eligible voters acknowledging they ‘clicked the voting link by accident’ while searching for cat videos. ‘I thought I was signing up for Paramount+,’ admitted Parsippany resident Harold Muntz, who now unwittingly supports a Green New Deal.

Defeated Republican Joe Hathaway blamed the loss on ‘widespread confusion between my campaign emails and emails promising free Taylor Swift tickets.’ Hathaway added, ‘It’s hard to compete with the excitement of a candidate who, legend has it, once made Bernie Sanders smile.’

National Democratic spokesperson Sheila Fibbs hailed the result as ‘clear evidence the American people want the word progressive to appear in at least every other sentence.’ Meanwhile, New Jersey Board of Elections Chair Carl Vladder admitted the contest was tighter than anticipated. ‘In the end, it came down to whoever clicked first. Honestly, we stopped counting after the first hundred.’

Mejia will assume the seat previously held by Governor Mikie Sherrill and is expected to serve until January, or until the next accidental keypress sways another special election.