Rep. Mikie Sherrill launched her campaign for governor of New Jersey on Monday, joining a crowded field of candidates, including one of her colleagues in the congressional delegation, hoping to succeed the term-limited Democrat Phil Murphy after next year.
She follows fellow Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who launched his campaign Friday, as well as four other Democrats who had previously launched campaigns ahead the November 2025 election: Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, former state Sen. Steve Sweeney, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and former Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller, who is the president of the New Jersey Education Association. Four Republicans have also tossed their hats in the ring.
“It’s going to be an epic battle of the ages,” Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, said of the wide-open race. “We haven’t seen one like this in a very long time.”
Sherrill is so far the only woman of either party to enter the race. A former Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor, she was first elected to the House in 2018, flipping an open seat previously held by Republican Rodney Frelinghuysen. In the House, she’s known for being in the middle ideologically, having previously been a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.
“We’ve been through a lot these past couple of years. There’ve been crises in this country, all over the world, and here in New Jersey. And after this election, we know people are more divided than ever on how to move forward,” Sherrill said in a campaign launch video released Monday. “I’m announcing my candidacy for governor, on a mission to get things done for New Jersey. This will be a campaign we build together because we all have a place and a say in New Jersey’s future.”
She aligned herself with other members of the Class of 2018 with national security backgrounds throughout her time in the House, and was one of seven freshman Democrats who in 2019 wrote an op-ed that helped to push forward momentum towards President Donald Trump’s first impeachment.
She’s also focused on her work to secure federal funding for the Gateway Tunnel Project and for repealing the $10,000 cap on deducting state and local taxes, two issues that particularly affect New Jersey residents, which she touted in the release announcing her campaign.
She was reelected to her 11th District seat this month by 14.7 percentage points, according to the latest Associated Press tally.
Sherrill is set to make several stops on Tuesday highlighting support for her campaign, including a stop with Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh and with the Laborers’ International Union of North America and the New Jersey Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association, both of which previously said they would support her campaign.
She also won the endorsement of EMILY’s List, a group that backs Democratic women who support abortion rights, on Monday.
A competitive Republican primary is also taking shape. Jack Ciattarelli, a former assemblyman who lost to Murphy in 2021, is running again, as is former state Sen. Ed Durr, who ousted Sweeney from office in 2021, and Bill Spadea, a conservative radio host, are all in the race. State Sen. Jon Bramnick, a “never Trumper,” is also running.
Historic fork in the road
Both parties have a chance to buck historical trends in the 2025 election. One party hasn’t held the governor’s mansion for three consecutive terms since the 1960s, Rasmussen said, which could benefit the GOP if history replays itself. But the state — which holds its gubernatorial elections in years outside the presidential and congressional campaign years — sometimes has served as an early barometer of trends for the public view of incumbent parties.
In 2005, for example, Democrat Jon Corzine won when Republicans controlled the White House and Congress. The GOP lost its congressional majorities in 2006, and Democrat Barack Obama won the White House in 2008. In 2009, Republican Chris Christie won the governorship one year after Democrats swept to power in the White House and built on their congressional majorities. In 2010, Republicans won back the House and narrowly missed out on a majority in the Senate. And in 2017, when Murphy was first elected, there was a backlash to President Donald Trump that foreshadowed the “blue wave” in the 2018 midterm elections when Democrats reclaimed the House majority.
But Trump performed better in New Jersey this month than he did in previous elections, according to preliminary results. Trump trailed Vice President Kamala Harris by 5.7 percentage points with 99 percent of the vote counted midday Monday, according to the AP. President Joe Biden carried the state by double digits in 2020.
Based on those results, and Murphy’s tighter-than-expected reelection win in 2021, candidates are likely to face not only a competitive primary in June, but also a competitive general election in a year.
It will also mark the first gubernatorial election without the influence of the so-called “party line,” a practice which gave preferable ballot placement to candidates backed by powerful county organizations.
A federal judge overturned the practice earlier this year, after Rep. Andy Kim, who was elected to the Senate earlier this month, sued to end the practice.
This year’s elections showed that county parties can still influence elections, even without the practice in place, Rasmussen said. The groups have important knowledge on how to run elections across the state’s different counties that can be beneficial for supporting their favored candidates.
“This is new territory for us in which candidates have a level playing field, [and] don’t get that advantage that comes from the favored ballot position in each county” he said. “We’re going to see what difference these organizations make. They won’t have their line, but they will have their money, they will have their expertise, they will have their know-how on how to run elections in their counties.”
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