Mikie Sherrill Wins NJ Governor's Race

By Cecilia Levine From Daily Voice

New Jersey, meet your next governor: Mikie Sherrill.

Sherrill, a Democratic Congresswoman, defeated Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli, with the race being called shortly after polls closed by Decision Desk, a nonpartisan website that tracks election results.

NBC News officially called the race just before 9:30 p.m., with Sherrill garnering 1,177,929 votes sand Ciattarelli earning 876,351, 57% to 42%, with 64% percent of the votes counted.

Gov. Phil Murphy is term-limited and cannot run for re-election. Sherrill's running mate, Dale Caldwell, president of Centenary University, will be the state's next lieutenant governor.

Sherrill's campaign touted her record as a Navy helicopter pilot who became a federal prosecutor before being elected to Congress in 2018. She focused on affordability, vowing a freeze on utility rates on her first day in office.

President Donald Trump was also a main focus of her campaign, as she attacked Ciattarelli relentlessly for having the president's endorsement, despite his relative unpopularity in the Garden State.

Sherrill was buoyed by Trump announcing he was cancelling the Hudson Gateway Tunnel Project. Days before Election Day, former President Barack Obama campaigned for Sherrill in Newark.

While New Jersey is a reliably blue state, polls showed a tight race with Sherrill in the lead. Trump earned 46% of the vote in the 2024 presidential election in New Jersey, the best showing by a Republican since 2004, flipping five counties from Democrat to Republican.

Sherrill's win marks the first time a party has won three straight elections in the Garden State since Democrats controlled the governor's mansion from 1954 to 1970.