After months – years, even – of planning and speculation, Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) has at last entered the 2025 race for governor of New Jersey. She says she has a clear plan for what she wants to do if she wins.
Speaking with the New Jersey Globe this morning, Sherrill homed in on three issues that she plans on making her top priorities as governor: lowering housing costs, improving public transit, and increasing transparency in a state known for its shady politics. And she said that unlike other politicians, who remained unnamed but who may include some of her opponents for the governor’s office, she’s committed to actually doing what needs to be done.
“We know that for too many people, they just don’t feel like they have access to the opportunity in this state. It’s too hard to get ahead,” Sherrill said. “People are worried that their rights and freedoms are under attack. And so I think we need real leadership in Trenton – not just somebody who’s going to talk about the problem, but actually deliver.”
Sherrill, a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor, was first elected to represent the 11th congressional district in 2018, flipping a suburban North Jersey seat that had been held by Republicans for more than 30 years. Her victory that year was one of four Democratic flips in New Jersey that helped Democrats retake control of the House.
In the six years since then, Sherrill has established a record as a moderate Democrat with a particular focus on abortion rights and national security. But as she seeks to lead a state that already has strong abortion protections in place and where many voters care more about affordability problems than about international politics, the issues driving her gubernatorial campaign look a bit different.
The first policy priority Sherrill identified was housing, which she said is too expensive for many New Jerseyans and is pushing both younger and older people out of the state. While New Jersey in theory has strong affordable housing requirements thanks to the state Supreme Court, Sherrill said that the state needs to work on building “missing middle” housing for the middle class, repurposing office spaces and brownfields and incentivizing developers to build more than just luxury apartments.
“People like me, with kids, we want our kids moving back here,” she said. “When our kids are ready to start their family, we want them to be able to afford homes nearby. We don’t want them moving out of the state. When our parents retire, we don’t want them headed to Delaware or Florida. We want them here. And those types of options just aren’t available in too many places in New Jersey.”
Transit, too, is a key part of the congresswoman’s plan for the state. Sherrill has frequently dubbed herself the “tunnel-obsessed congresswoman,” referencing the Gateway Tunnel project that should make train service in and out of New York City much smoother once it’s completed, and she said that she’ll be just as obsessed with fixing New Jersey Transit, which has been through a rough year thanks to funding gaps and broader Amtrak issues.
Asked how she would work to fix the struggling agency – a task which has eluded current Gov. Phil Murphy and many governors before him – Sherrill said it would take a combination of better allocation of resources in New Jersey and more money coming in from Washington.
“We’ve got a $56 billion budget; we have got to take a look at that and make sure that we are spending money wisely on those things that are going to make life easier for families here,” she said. “But some of this has to be federally funded. When you look at the fact that the Amtrak rail line, which New Jersey Transit rents from Amtrak, has been under-maintained for years now – we need federal dollars in there.”
Sherrill’s emphasis on transit and housing puts her in league with Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, another 2025 candidate who has made those issues a centerpiece of his policy-heavy campaign. Sherrill’s colleague, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly), has also focused strongly on affordability, though his immediate priorities (lowering taxes and clawing back the money New Jersey sends to the federal government) look a bit different.
Asked whether there was anything where she specifically disagreed with the current administration in Trenton, Sherrill said that she believed the state has not done enough to foster transparency and increase voters’ trust in government. She cited the Elections Transparency Act, a controversial campaign finance overhaul from 2023, and an even more controversial 2024 bill that weakened some parts of the Open Public Records Act, both of which were signed into law by Murphy.
“We’ve had a series of corruption scandals,” Sherrill said. “Our state is sadly somewhat known for that in certain quarters. So voters have demanded, and the people of New Jersey deserve, transparency and accountability. I would disagree with certain measures that have been taken to undermine some of those ways in which we provide that to people.”
Sherrill is, in some ways, an unlikely messenger for that fight. She is closely entwined with many of the Democratic leaders who were instrumental in pushing for the bills she’s criticized; the leader of the state Democratic Party, Essex County Democratic Chair LeRoy Jones, is preparing to support her campaign for governor.
But Sherrill said that no matter who is backing her, she’ll always answer to the voters of New Jersey first and foremost.
“The number one group that I want to get support from is the people of New Jersey,” she said. “I really want voters to support this campaign because they believe in what I’m doing. To do that, I’m going to build a broad based campaign that includes everyone. And that’s really what I’ve always done.”