U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot set to begin her seventh year as a Democratic congresswoman, officially declared she is running for New Jersey governor on Monday, further intensifying a jam-packed contest.
It has long been anticipated the Essex County lawmaker and former federal prosecutor would join next year’s election to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, and her entry comes at a critical point in the race. Sherrill is the sixth major Democrat, the 10th major candidate overall, and potentially the final contender from either party to jump into the primary.
She is the only woman running, too.
Sherrill announced her bid with a video on social media, nearly two weeks after she was elected to a fourth term to represent North Jersey’s 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives — a former longtime Republican district she flipped in 2018.
Wearing her Navy pilot jacket, the 52-year-old congresswoman says the state, country, and world have seen several “crises” in recent years. And, she notes, “people are more divided than ever on how to move forward” after this year’s election, in which Republican former President Donald Trump defeated Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race.
“In a crisis, the worst thing you can do is freeze,” Sherrill continues, sharing a lesson she says she learned in the military. “You have to choose to lead, to follow, or get out of the way. So we can either stand aside, or we can get to work on New Jersey’s future. And I know which one I pick.”
“In New Jersey, we don’t whine, we work.”
She says she’ll focus on building more housing, improving the economy, and making high-cost New Jersey more affordable.
“We can also be the state that sets the gold standard for protecting rights and freedoms, and we know they’ll be under attack from Donald Trump’s Washington,” adds Sherrill, who won her House race by 14 percentage points, while Harris carried blue New Jersey by about 6.
Sherrill joins a crowded and formidable group of candidates seeking their parties’ nominations in a primary election now seven months away. The field features some of New Jersey’s top political names and the battle is sure to dominate state politics now that the fight for the White House is done.
Her opponents for the Democratic nod are Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (who announced his campaign Friday), New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller, and former state Senate President Stephen Sweeney.
Four major contenders are fighting for the Republican nod: state Sen. Jon Bramnick, former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, former state Sen. Ed Durr, and radio host Bill Spadea.
That may be the final field for the June primary, though it’s possible another major candidate could enter.
Whoever wins November’s general election takes over one of the most powerful governorships in America, with the ability to approve not only new laws and the state budget but a vast array of appointments, including a state attorney general and judges. Though New Jersey is a blue state, voters often see-saw between parties when picking a governor.
While others leapt into the fray gradually in recent months, Gottheimer and Sherrill — two well-known members of Congress considered two of the race’s top contenders — waited until just after her re-election to declare her candidacy.
Some Democratic Party leaders believe Sherrill is the candidate with the right profile to rally around. She is expected to get the critical endorsements of party chairmen in the counties of Essex, Middlesex, Morris, and Passaic, though many consider the race to be wide open. Neither party in New Jersey has won three consecutive races for governor since Democrats did it in 1961.
Sherrill was born and graduated high school in Virginia and flew missions throughout Europe and the Middle East as a Navy pilot. A graduate of Georgetown University’s law school, Sherrill was later an assistant U.S. attorney in New Jersey.
The Montclair resident was elected to Congress as part of a blue wave in 2018 that saw Democrats pick up four of New Jersey’s House seats two years into Trump’s first term. Sherrill won a seat in the 11th District — which includes parts of Essex, Morris, and Passaic counties — that had been held for 24 years by Republican Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, who ended his bid his re-election and retired after Sherrill’s candidacy gained steam.
Since then, Sherrill has been a rising star in the party. She has also been a transportation advocate and leading voice in the push to protect abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturned Roe v. Wade.
Last year, Sherrill was the first sitting member of Congress from New Jersey to call for Democratic President Joe Biden to drop his re-election bid.
She is expected to run as a moderate Democrat in this race but has also been cordial with the progressive wing of her party. One question in the primary is whether progressives will embrace her in the wake of a contentious U.S. Senate election that energized the Democratic base and challenged the party establishment that now supports Sherrill.
Sherrill, a mother of four, is seeking to become only the second woman elected as New Jersey’s governor, after Republican Christie Whitman did so more than 30 years ago.
“I can bring a fresh perspective and new leadership to Trenton,” Sherrill told NJ Advance Media in a phone interview Monday.
She also said she believes people “like to see someone who’s a mom, who understands what their kids have been through,” and who knows the consequences of “rollbacks” to reproductive rights and more.
“What’s really important is we’re listening to people right now,” Sherrill added. “How are they going to afford to live here?”
Like Gottheimer, Sherrill is also a notable fundraiser.
“She is tireless, campaigns constantly, even when she doesn’t have to,” said Dan Cassino, a pollster at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
A Rutgers-Eagleton poll released last week found Sherrill has the highest marks among the Democratic field, but no gubernatorial candidate has significant name recognition. For Sherrill, 53% of registered voters don’t know who she is, while 19% hold a favorable view of her, 8% see her unfavorably, and 20% have no opinion.
Also playing into the race’s anyone-could-win atmosphere: The primary likely won’t feature the state’s decades-old but controversial “county line” ballot design, in which candidates endorsed by county party leaders have received choice placement, helping party bosses influence elections. A judge suspended the system for this year’s Democratic primaries after a lawsuit filed during the Senate race, and it may soon be thrown out completely.
That means county endorsements — such as the ones Sherrill is expected to receive en masse — may not be as big of an advantage as they previously have been.
And with so many candidates, it’s possible someone could win the primary with less than half or even a quarter of the vote.
“This is going to be contested Democratic primary election,” Cassino said. “We have no idea who’s going to vote in this race. The winnowing we’d expect from candidates isn’t going to happen. Because everyone believes they have a reasonable chance to win.”
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X at @johnsb01.