Mikie Sherrill defeats Jack Ciattarelli to become New Jersey’s next governor
The Democratic congresswoman’s victory follows a campaign focused on affordability.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill will be New Jersey’s next governor after defeating Republican Jack Ciattarelli with 56.2% of the vote in the Nov. 4 election, according to unofficial results from the Associated Press.
Garden State voters sent Sherrill and her running mate, Dale Caldwell, to victory following their campaign that centered on decreasing utility costs, making housing and groceries more affordable, expanding access to early childhood education, and protecting reproductive rights.
“They always say we’re loud, but, man, with this vote, you guys just screamed from the rooftop, and people around the country have heard you,” Sherrill told a cheering crowd during her acceptance speech at the Hilton East Brunswick Hotel on election night.
New Jersey’s gubernatorial race garnered nationwide attention and was seen by some political experts as a referendum on President Donald Trump, as Ciattarelli had largely aligned himself with the president. He expressed support for Trump’s unpopular tariffs and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is expected to result in hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans losing health insurance. The president endorsed Ciattarelli, stumped for him in the final days of the campaign, and often attacked Sherrill.
Sherrill, who will replace Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy to become New Jersey’s second female governor, on election night took aim at Trump’s policies and vowed to defend New Jersey against the president.
Invoking New Jersey’s motto, Sherrill lambasted Trump and his administration.
“Liberty and prosperity: I’ve seen the genius in that motto over the last year because both are essential in our democracy,” Sherrill said. “And as the president is backing away from this ideal — cutting SNAP, ripping away health care, terminating Gateway — we here in New Jersey are bound to fight for a different future for our children.
“We see how clearly important liberty is,” Sherrill continued. “We know that no one in our great state is safe when our neighbors are targeted, ignoring the law and the Constitution. But prosperity is equally essential. Liberty alone is not enough if the government makes it impossible for you to feed your family, to get a good education or to get a good job. So in this country, that shouldn’t be too much to ask. But, right now, all of it seems at risk. Governors have never mattered more.”
Ciattarelli told supporters during a concession speech he had called Sherrill to congratulate her.
“It is my hope that Mikie Sherrill has heard us in terms of what we need to do to make New Jersey that place where everybody can once again feel they can achieve their American dream,” Ciattarelli said.
Sherrill is a moderate Democrat and U.S. Navy veteran who flipped her House seat in 2018 and has represented New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District in the suburbs of northern New Jersey since 2019. She has been a vocal critic of Trump in a state that’s been historically safe for Democratic presidential contenders but regularly alternates between Democratic and Republican governors.
In April, Sherrill unleashed a barrage of criticism after the Trump administration removed anti-racist books from the library of the U.S. Naval Academy, from where she graduated.
“I’m disgusted by how Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth are using our service academies and the Department of Defense to push their white Christian nationalist agenda,” Sherrill said during a House session. “He’s taken ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’ by Maya Angelou off the library shelves but left two copies of Adolf Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ in the library. Just consider that for a minute: Midshipmen can now read the antisemitic manifesto of one of history’s most evil men, but God forbid they read the autobiography of a Black woman recounting her lived experience.”
On her first day in office, Sherrill said during the campaign, she plans to declare a state of emergency in order to freeze utility rates that have soared for New Jerseyans. Electric bills increased by about 20% for Garden State residents this summer.
“Utility costs are out of control in New Jersey,” the Sherrill campaign writes on its website. “Families are spending almost their entire budget just to pay the electric bill this summer.”
Additionally, Sherrill said, she plans to drive down rising grocery prices by working to increase the number of food retailers in the state, thus creating more competition among grocery shops. The governor-elect aims to make housing more affordable for New Jerseyans. To do so, she plans to strengthen first-time homebuyer programs and provide funding and other assistance to municipalities so they can convert “underutilized infrastructure,” including commercial buildings, into housing units, according to her campaign website.
