Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11) announced Monday she is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2025. (Courtesy of Sherrill campaign)
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Montclair Democrat who first joined Congress after the 2018 Democratic wave, on Monday joined the large field of Democrats seeking to be elected governor next year.
In a video declaring her run, Sherrill touts her background as a former U.S. Navy pilot and says she wants to build more housing, make New Jersey more affordable, and “fix the economy.”
“In a crisis, the worst thing you can do is freeze. 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,” she says in the video. “And I know which one I pick.”
Wearing her Navy jacket, Sherrill notes that after the most recent presidential election, people are “more divided than ever” on how to move forward and she pledges to set a “gold standard for protecting rights and freedoms” as President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
Sherrill’s campaign launch comes three days after one of her House colleagues, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-05), announced his own gubernatorial bid at a diner in South Hackensack.
Her initial election to Congress came as a response to Trump’s first two years as president, when her party retook control of the House of Representatives and pledged to serve as check on the Trump administration.
She has positioned herself as a moderate Democrat concerned about national security issues — she serves on the House Armed Services Committee — and reproductive rights. She helped lead the charge in 2019 to impeach Trump over allegations that he pressured the president of Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, lambasted her Republican colleagues for what she called their support of rioters who ransacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and in July became the first member of New Jersey’s congressional delegation to urge Biden to suspend his bid for reelection (he did so about two weeks later).
In her two-minute campaign video, Sherrill promises to “get things done.”
“In New Jersey, we love our country, we’re proud of our state, and we value our freedoms. We’ll defend them with everything we’ve got,” she says.
New Jersey voters have only elected one woman as governor, Republican Christine Todd Whitman, who served from 1994 to 2001.
Sherrill graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1994 and spent 10 years on active duty in the Navy in missions across Europe and the Middle East. She holds a law degree from Georgetown University and worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey.
Half a dozen Democrats are hoping to succeed Murphy when he leaves office in 2026 (he is barred from seeking a third consecutive term), including Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, former state Sen. Steve Sweeney, teachers union leader Sean Spiller, and Gottheimer.
On the Republican side, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, former state Sen. Ed Durr, NJ 101.5 host Bill Spadea, real estate broker Robert Canfield, and former Burlington City Mayor Jim Fazzone are seeking the governor’s mansion.
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