Democrat Mikie Sherrill wins New Jersey governor race, keeps state blue against Republican challenge
Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill will become the next governor of New Jersey, keeping the state blue in her ballot battle against Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli.
By defeating Ciattarelli Tuesday in a very competitive and combustible race that grabbed plenty of national attention, Sherrill will succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.
"New Jersey, it is the honor of my life to earn your trust to become this great state’s 57th Governor. I promise to listen, lead with courage, and never forget who I serve," Sherrill said in a social media post minutes after her victory was projected by Fox News and other news organizations.
Sherrill becomes only the second woman elected New Jersey governor, following Republican Christine Todd Whitman, and makes history as the first female Democrat elected governor.
"This was a tough fight and this is a tough state. But I know you, New Jersey. I have fought for you. I’ve spoken with thousands of you over this last year. I know your struggles, your hopes, and your dreams," Sherrill said in her victory speech.
And she vowed to represent all Garden Staters, adding, "I know not everyone voted for me. But I am working for everyone. Every single one of you."
Ciattarelli, at the top of his concession speech to a ballroom jam packed with supporters, announced that he had called Sherrill to congratulate her.
"Even though we were not successful tonight, it does not mean we were not successful in talking about the issues that matter. I'm more passionate than ever that these issues need to be solved, because if they're not, I fear for the future of New Jersey."
And Ciattareli said, "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."
Sherrill has served in the U.S. House since 2019, after flipping the Garden State's 11th District seat in the northern part of the state away from the Republicans as part of 2018's blue wave election year during President Donald Trump's first term in the White House.
"We've seen, you know, rallies with thousands of people. The early vote, the vote by mail is very, very good," a confident Sherrill told reporters on Election Day after casting her ballot. "I think I'm going to do quite well today."
The New Jersey Democrat campaigned on a series of key issues, most notably affordability in a state notorious for sky-high taxes. Sherrill championed from the campaign trail that she would bring down costs for Garden State families, including working to end "price gouging" and "fighting for tax relief, lowering health care and energy costs."
And in her victory speech, she highlighted, "I'm going to declare a state of emergency on day one to drive down your utility costs."
She also vowed to protect abortion access, vowed to increase "new home construction that meets the needs of all residents" amid a housing crisis, and close the education gap between New Jersey's highly ranked public schools in certain zip codes and districts that have struggled following the 2020 pandemic.
"I have a different kind of background, so I’ll be a different kind of governor," Sherrill told voters in October in her opening remarks ahead of her second gubernatorial debate. "Navy helicopter pilot, federal prosecutor, member of Congress and mom of four kids, I’m laser focused on driving down your costs and making New Jersey more affordable. … I’m going to ensure I’m always fighting for all of you."
Sherrill is a Naval Academy graduate and former Sea King helicopter pilot who spent more than nine years on active duty in the Navy. She left the military in 2003 at the rank of lieutenant and went into law school, according to her congressional biography.
The Democrat announced her candidacy for New Jersey governor in November 2024 while wearing a Navy jacket while touting she was ready to "get to work on New Jersey’s future."
She also worked as a prosecutor in the days leading up to jumping into politics. She earned her law degree from Georgetown University before working at a New York City law firm and joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey as a federal prosecutor in 2015, according to her congressional biography.
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After topping a competitive field of rivals in June's Democratic gubernatorial primary, Sherrill faced off in the general election against Ciattarelli, a former certified public accountant who later owned a medical publishing company before entering politics and serving as a state lawmaker.
Ciattarelli first ran for governor in 2017, finishing second in the GOP primary. And four years ago, after capturing the GOP nomination, he came close to ousting Murphy, falling short by just three percentage points.
In the final stretch of this year's campaign, Ciattarelli narrowed the polling gap against Sherrill, but was unable to paint the blue-leaning state red.
New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold gubernatorial showdowns in the year after a presidential election, and the contests traditionally are viewed as political barometers ahead of the following year's midterm elections.
And in 2025, they were viewed, in part, as ballot-box referendums on Trump's unprecedented second-term agenda.
While Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections in New Jersey, Republicans have been very competitive in gubernatorial contests, winning five out of the previous 10 elections.
New Jersey was eyed as a potential state to flip to Republican control following Trump's inroads with voters in the state during the 2024 election. Trump cut his 2020 loss in New Jersey from 16 points to six in 2024 and also flipped five counties in the state red during the 2024 race.
And, the past four years, Republicans cut into the Democrats' large voter registration advantage in the state.
In a race that turned increasingly negative and divisive, the two nominees sparred in two fall debates and took repeated shots at one another while on the campaign trail.
The New Jersey Democrat faced campaign woes in September, for example, when a report revealed that the United States Naval Academy blocked Sherrill from taking part in her graduation amid a cheating scandal. Sherrill slammed the release of the report, which was improperly released to a Ciattarelli ally, and said she was banned from walking at her graduation because she declined to report classmates who were involved in the scandal.
Sherrill also faced threats of a lawsuit from Ciattarelli for an allegedly defamatory claim that the Republican candidate contributed to the deaths of "tens of thousands of New Jerseyans" during the opioid crisis by publishing "propaganda" that the addictive drugs were safe.
"It's a baseless, reckless lie," Ciattarelli said on Fox News' "America's Newsroom" a week out from Election Day.
"I just got approval yesterday from the regulators that we can go ahead with our lawsuit immediately, which is what I plan to do. … We're not going to tolerate that kind of lie. The whole campaign has been based on a stack of lies."
But Ciattarelli never ended up filing the lawsuit ahead of Election Day.
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New Jersey's gubernatorial inauguration is scheduled for Jan. 20. Sherrill has not yet announced if she plans to move to the governor's mansion, named Drumthwacket, which is a historic property located in Princeton, New Jersey.
Asked by Fox News on Election Day about her timetable for resigning from her U.S. House seat and, when she takes over as governor, calling for a special congressional election to fill the vacant seat, Sherrill said, "We've been totally focused on this election. We'll be in touch with the leadership of the House to make sure that we're doing that as smoothly as possible for the people of New Jersey."