Mikie Sherrill celebrates securing the Democratic nomination for New Jersey governor
MORRISTOWN, N.J. — Rep. Mikie Sherrill won New Jersey’s Democrat gubernatorial primary on Tuesday night.
The Associated Press projects that Sherrill has won the primary, which tees up a competitive race against three-time gubernatorial candidate and former GOP state lawmaker Jack Ciattarelli to replace Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy, who is term-limited this year.
Sherill swept a crowded field of Democrat candidates, including Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller, former New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney and fellow U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer.
“If Jack Ciattarelli is the ghost of elections past, then tonight, we write the future,” Sherrill told a crowd of supporters in Morristown. “The future is built on handwork and hope, and here in New Jersey, we are known for our grit, our tenacity, maybe a little bit for how loud we are. But it’s going to take a strong voice to cut through the noise in Washington and deliver for the people, so I stand here tonight doing just that.”
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Rep. Mikie Sherrill speaks with reporters after voting at Hillside Elementary School in Montclair, N.J., on June 10, 2025. (Fox News Digital)
Democrat and Republican candidates often mentioned President Donald Trump’s name on the New Jersey campaign trail as Democrats positioned themselves as the most anti-Trump and Republicans vied to be the most pro-Trump candidate. It was Ciattarelli who landed the Trump endorsement as Democrats worked to contrast the president’s vision with their own.
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“As a mom of four teenagers, I’m not going to put up with the incompetent, whiny nonsense coming from aggrieved MAGA Republicans,” Sherrill said as her supporters erupted in cheers at an election night watch party.
New Jersey is one of just two governor’s races in 2025, along with Virginia. Both will be used by politicians and pundits to gauge how Americans are responding to Trump’s second term ahead of the midterm elections next year.
As they campaigned for the coveted nomination, Democrat candidates walked a fine line between building on Murphy’s legacy and promising to change the status quo in Trenton. Like Murphy, Democrat candidates have rejected Trump’s executive orders, his crackdown on illegal immigration and the Department of Government Efficiency spending cuts.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill delivered a victory speech to a lively crowd of supporters at an election night watch party in Morristown, New Jersey.
Acting as the last line of defense to a sweeping Republican agenda, Democrat governors have often rejected Trump’s executive actions during his second term. By suing the Trump administration to unlock federal funds or refusing to comply with ICE deportations, Democrat governors, including many rumored to harbor 2028 presidential ambitions, are often leading the party’s resistance to Trump.
Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair Ken Martin congratulated Sherrill after she secured the nomination on Tuesday night and said the DNC is “all hands on deck” to keep New Jersey blue.
“We will do everything in our power to unite the party and defeat Republican extremists like Jack Ciattarelli who want to rubber stamp Donald Trump’s cost-hiking agenda and sell out working-class Americans,” Martin said.
Democratic Governors Association (DGA) Chair Gov. Laura Kelly joined the applause after Sherrill’s primary victory, adding that she “knows how to win tough races.”
Mikie Sherrill’s familu walked on stage to “We Are Family” on Tuesday night, and her eldest daughter delivered introductory remarks.
“As a former Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor, Mikie served our country and took on tough fights to keep New Jerseyans safe, and during her time in Congress, she worked to lower costs, create good-paying jobs, and protect reproductive rights,” Kelly said.
“Now she’s running to make life easier for Garden State families by creating economic opportunity, building more affordable housing, lowering costs, and funding public schools.”
Trump once again took center stage on the campaign trail Tuesday as Sherrill and Gottheimer were peppered with questions by the press about the protests and riots unfolding in Los Angeles.
President Donald Trump held a campaign rally on May 11, 2024 in Wildwood, New Jersey. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
When asked how she would handle the ongoing situation in Los Angeles differently from Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sherrill touted her military and law enforcement background and told Fox News Digital she would stand up “strongly in favor of keeping people here in the state safe,” return safety to the streets and continue “speaking out against a president who is trying to create violence in the country.”
Sherrill is a Navy veteran and served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey as an outreach and re-entry coordinator, which she described as prosecuting federal cases and advising law enforcement on investigations.
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, joined by her children, arrives at Hillside Elementary School in Montclair, N.J., to cast her ballot in the primary on June 10, 2025. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)
“Governor Newsom surged law enforcement in, and what Trump seems to be doing is trying to add fuel to the fire and really make the situation violent and bad,” Sherrill told reporters after casting her ballot in Montclair on Tuesday morning. “That’s completely unacceptable.”
Gottheimer said it was “outrageous” for Trump to send the National Guard to California without Newsom’s request.
“The fact that the president, for the first time since 1965, sent troops in from the National Guard without a request from the governor is outrageous. It’s just more chaos that we’re used to having in this administration. It’s not how I would approach this,” Gottheimer told Fox News Digital after voting in Tenafly.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (Stephanie Keith for Fox News Digital)
Democrat candidates threw their support behind Baraka last month after he was arrested for trespassing at an ICE facility in Newark. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) called it a “beyond bizarre political stunt,” but Baraka has maintained that he did nothing wrong.
Last week, Baraka filed a lawsuit against Alina Habba, U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, and DHS Agent Ricky Patel “for false arrest, malicious prosecution, and defamation.”
Trump outperformed in the Garden State in 2024, according to Fox News Voter Analysis.
A “Vote Here” sign at the Presbyterian Church in Tenafly, N.J., on June 10, 2025. (Deirdre Heavey/Fox News Digital)
While former Vice President Kamala Harris won New Jersey in 2024 as expected, Trump saw a nearly five-point improvement from his 2020 vote share, and Harris’ support dropped by about five points. He gained across New Jersey, with his largest swings in the northeast corner of the state; Hudson and Passaic counties led the pack.
Ciattarelli lost by a hair to Murphy in 2021 and framed his candidacy as a referendum on the Democrat policies that have driven New Jersey for the past eight years.
