Updated November 5, 2025 at 1:50 PM EST
New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill secured a decisive victory in Tuesday's election to become the next governor of the Garden State in a race some polls predicted would be tighter.
Sherrill beat the President Trump-endorsed Republican candidate, Jack Ciattarelli, by about 13% of the vote — marking the first time since the 1960s that New Jersey voters elected a governor from the same party three terms in a row.
In an interview with Morning Edition, Sherill said her win was about New Jersey residents wanting leadership at a time when many feel some of President Trump's moves — including tariffs, federal reductions in health spending and threats to the multi-billion dollar Gateway Tunnel Project — will make life harder for them.
"They look to my background in the military. They also want somebody who gets it and gets them," Sherrill said. "They look to the fact that I'm a mom of four kids and I know what's been going on in our communities and our schools, and they wanted somebody to address those key issues."
Speaking to NPR's A Martínez, Sherrill discussed her win and what Democrats' successful 2025 election means going forward.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Interview highlights
A Martínez: It's been six decades since New Jersey elected a governor from the same party three times in a row. How does that make you feel?
Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill: It makes me feel pretty great. And I'll tell you, after speaking to thousands and thousands of New Jerseyans about just what it was going to take for for them, for their families to succeed, and then really executing the campaign focused on declaring a state of emergency on utility costs on day one, expanding first-time homebuyers credit to get people a foot in the door to homes or really handling the crisis that's going on in our health care system. Just relentlessly focusing on the people that I was stepping up to serve I think had huge gains. I think that's what people here in New Jersey expect from government. I often say that the key to my success is ruthless competence. And so we got it done in the campaign. We put together just the biggest, I think most professional campaign, the state has seen, and we saw great results last night.
Martínez: My colleague Leila Fadel asked Virginia's governor-elect, Abigail Spanberger, if her win was more of an endorsement of her policies or more of a push back to President Trump. So that same question now to you.
Sherrill: I think what this shows is that people in this state really want leadership. They look to my background in the military. They also want somebody who gets it and gets them. And I think in that case, they look to the fact that I'm a mom of four kids and I know what's been going on in our communities and our schools, and they wanted somebody to address those key issues. While at the same time, the fact that a lot of the affordability issues and the problems there stem from Trump's administration. So I heard as I went and spoke to thousands of people about the tariffs, how they were putting people out of business or larger businesses were laying people off. I heard about fears from the One Big Beautiful Bill and how people were going to afford to have health care. And then most recently, when Trump said he was going to terminate the Gateway Tunnel Project — thousands of New Jerseyans spoke to me about how important that was to not just their quality of life, but their hopes for opportunity and jobs. So again and again, the focus on affordability, on people's lives, on their kids' future really intersects with the attacks on the economy coming from Trump's administration.
Martínez: Are there any places at all where you might find common ground with President Trump?
Sherrill: We have a lot of big events coming up here in New Jersey where we will really be showcasing kind of the center of what we're showcasing about America. That's both the nation's 250th birthday anniversary. And most people know that the majority of the Revolutionary War took place in New Jersey. George Washington spent more time in Jersey than anywhere else. And some major turning point battles are here. So that's a huge event coming up. We have the FIFA World Cup, the biggest sporting event in the world. The final will be here in New Jersey. So all of that's coming into the state. It's a great opportunity to both showcase our country as well as, I think, some really good economic opportunities. And hopefully the administration will be a good partner in that endeavor.
Martínez: Now, you've made the rising cost of living a top issue. And New York City is right across the Hudson River from New Jersey. When it comes to housing affordability, how do you see yourself possibly working with its new mayor-elect, Zohran Mamdani?
Sherrill: You know, we're not going to solve New York's housing shortage, but what we can do here in New Jersey is really work to expand housing opportunities.
Martínez: People go from New Jersey to New York all the time. That's why I'm asking.
Sherrill: Right. But what we're seeing is a real influx of New Yorkers into places like Jersey City, Hoboken — and we'll continue to provide great opportunities for people. We'll continue to build our businesses here. But really what we have to do is across the state, look to some of our opportunities and transit-oriented development business opportunities in the southern part of our state, transit across the state. Although again with the Gateway Tunnel Project, that's going to be a key investment that we need from the federal government. And then when it comes to working with Mayor-elect Mamdani or [New York Gov. Kathy] Hochul, I will be working to get, you know, get in to ensure that we have resources here in New Jersey, that we're working together to make sure, for example, the FIFA World Cup goes off really well. I think we'll have a lot going on in Liberty around the Statue of Liberty in our harbor. So we'll work closely with New York to make sure we run this safely, securely, and we have the economic benefits of it here.
Martínez: What are your thoughts on these two significant wins [in Virginia and New Jersey] across the mid-Atlantic region?
Sherrill: I think it's building back that juggernaut of a Democratic coalition — working people, the Black and Latino communities — these are communities that want to see great government. They want to see great schools, great job opportunities. And that's what Democrats have traditionally focused on when we build out a juggernaut of a campaign and a good, effective government. And that's what I intend to do.
This digital article was edited by Treye Green.
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