New Jersey Elects Sherrill As Governor In Boost For Democrats In 2026

Democratic US Representative Mikie Sherrill won the race for governor of New Jersey, defeating a Republican backed by President Donald Trump and giving her party a boost heading into next year's midterm elections.

Sherrill, a former federal prosecutor and Navy helicopter pilot, was leading Jack Ciattarelli, a former state lawmaker making his third bid for governor, by 57% to 42% with 63% of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press.

Sherrill, 53, will replace Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, who was barred by law from seeking a third consecutive term. Her victory marks the first time in 60 years that one party has won three consecutive gubernatorial elections in the Garden State.

“Sherrill's win will be viewed as a rebuke of Trump,” Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, said before the results were tallied. “It will certainly be interpreted that way by national Democrats who will feel that they have the wind in their sails.”

New Jersey's contest — along with the governor's race in Virginia — was widely viewed as an early referendum on both the GOP and Trump, who took office for a second time in January. The president made notable gains in the historically blue state during his 2024 reelection run, particularly among Latino voters, losing by a much smaller margin than he had four years earlier. 

Trump figured prominently in the race, praising Ciattarelli often on his Truth Social platform and participating in a virtual rally for the candidate. Ciattarelli embraced the MAGA agenda, vowing to ban offshore wind farms and giving the president high marks.

Sherrill, who held a rally with former President Barack Obama, blasted Ciattarelli after Trump's controversial decision to freeze funding for the Gateway tunnel project, a popular multibillion dollar plan to upgrade rail connections to New York. Ciattarelli countered that he would be in the best position to work with Trump to get the funding restored.

Republicans had hoped Ciattarelli, 63, could harness New Jersey voters' frustration over high utility bills and taxes. At the virtual rally, Trump called Sherrill a “fake and corrupt radical left Democrat.”

Both sides blanketed the airwaves, spending more than $100 million combined — more than triple the $30 million spent in the 2021 general election, according to AdImpact data. Sherrill's backers spent $64 million on ads, about $21 million more than Ciattarelli's supporters. 

Their commercials traded accusations over high utility bills, Sherrill's absence at her Naval Academy graduation over a cheating scandal and Ciattarelli's past as a medical journal publisher accused of downplaying opioid risks. Both have denied accusations of wrongdoing. 

Sherrill gained prominence after flipping her North Jersey congressional district in 2018, and was later recognized as the most bipartisan elected official in the state by the Common Ground Committee. She focused her gubernatorial campaign on affordability and advocated for the development of housing to support middle-class families. She proposed repurposing underutilised commercial spaces for residential use. 

Property taxes in New Jersey are the second-highest in the US, and the state relies heavily on a patchwork of agency fees, surcharges and municipal aid that keeps local governments functioning. Sherrill's election platform pushed for shared services among municipalities and the possible consolidation of certain small school districts to save on overhead costs. She didn't promise direct, immediate tax relief, while Ciattarelli vowed to slash tax rates. 

While serving in the House, Sherrill helped secure federal investments for New Jersey and advanced the Gateway Tunnel project.

Trump said in October that his administration had halted the project, and federal funding was suspended following the government shutdown. Sherrill promised to fight “tooth-and-nail” and sue the Trump administration over the moves.

Born and raised in Virginia, Sherrill attended the US Naval Academy and served in the Navy for almost 10 years before she attended Georgetown Law School. She obtained her degree and served as an assistant US Attorney for the District of New Jersey, working under US Attorney Paul Fishman. She left that office in 2016.