Rep. Mikie Sherill will be the Democrats’ nominee for governor of New Jersey in the race to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, Decision Desk HQ projects. Her win means women candidates will lead 2025’s two biggest statewide elections.
Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor, was elected to Congress in 2018, as part of a group of center-left Democratic women with national security and military backgrounds. That class included Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia, who is aiming to flip the state’s governorship and will face Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in the general election.
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Sherrill will take on Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former state lawmaker and 2021 Republican gubernatorial nominee who has the backing of President Donald Trump.
She ran in a crowded field of Democratic primary candidates that included Rep. Josh Gottheimer, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, former state Senate President Steve Sweeney and Sean Spiller, the head of the New Jersey Education Association teachers union.
New Jersey’s rightward shift in 2024 raised alarm bells for Democrats in the state and nationwide. Trump lost New Jersey by just six points in 2024 after losing it by a margin of 16 in 2020. In the 2021 governor’s race, Ciattarelli came within four points of defeating Murphy.
That means New Jersey’s election for governor in November will be closely watched for whether Democrats can make up ground in the state and clinch a decisive victory.
