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North Jersey U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill enters New Jersey governor’s race

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Feb. 13, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib, File)

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U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, fresh off winning a re-election campaign, has announced she is running to be the next governor of the Garden State. She launched her campaign with a YouTube announcement Monday morning.

Sherrill said everyone knows what the problems are in New Jersey, but not enough is being done to address them.

“This is my frustration,” she said. “Too many people admiring the problem, saying, ‘Here’s a problem, here’s another problem, here’s a third problem.’ When, in fact, what we need are solutions.”

The Democrat is forming her campaign platform around economic and affordability issues. In a conversation with WHYY News, she also touched on inequitable education funding and how school districts remain segregated.

“We say in New Jersey that we have the best public school system in the nation, and often by the numbers that’s true,” she said. “But it still feels very much like it’s by zip code.”

Sherrill, who represents a North Jersey district that covers Essex, Morris and Passaic counties, announced her candidacy Monday morning on YouTube. She is the second congressperson to join an already crowded field on the Democratic side. Her colleague in the House, Josh Gottheimer, announced his campaign for governor on Friday.

The former federal prosecutor has served in Congress since 2019. She graduated from the Naval Academy in 1994 and spent almost a decade on active duty as a Navy helicopter pilot. Sherrill would go to Georgetown University law school and work in private practice before working for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey.

It’s the economy

Dr. Tina Zappile, director of the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University, said Sherrill “is pretty astute” that economics is at the top of voters’ minds. Polls from Rutgers and Stockton during the presidential election listed the economy as their top priority.

“Voter perception about the economy is challenged right now, so I think it’s really smart for her to focus on that,” she said.

Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, said the “overwhelming message from voters” was that economics was on their minds. However, he adds, that may not be the case next year.

“Probably the safest bet at this point is to be talking the same language that voters are talking, and to show that you heeded the message,” Rasmussen said. “it’s a pretty good bet that it’s not going to be far from anybody’s thinking.”

Zappile adds New Jerseyans will be interested in how the next governor will address property taxes and the school funding formula, which are intertwined. She noted how some districts that were slated to lose money for the 2025 fiscal year were able to able to get their previous reallocations back.

“Voters won’t forget that and they’re going to be thinking about that,” she said. “Any candidate for governor needs to address that proactively in terms of whether they’re going to continue with the same school funding formula, or what redress they’re going to give districts that are going to keep losing year after year.”

‘A very regionalized primary’

Other Democratic candidates include Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, New Jersey Education Association president and former Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and former Senate President Steve Sweeney.

Rasmussen explains the Democratic primary is looking “very regionalized,” with Sherrill counting on support from party leaders in Essex, Middlesex, Morris and Passaic counties and Sweeney hoping on a solid base in South Jersey.

“What I think Mikie Sherrill and other candidates are going to try and do is be a strong second choice of South Jersey,” he said. “[Sweeney] certainly makes the case that a solid South is going to propel him to the nomination, but the first step is to get whatever support you can get out of South Jersey.”

There is also a sizable field on the GOP side. Former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, who was the 2021 Republican nominee for governor, announced his candidacy as he was conceding the last gubernatorial race. He formally launched his third campaign for governor last April.

Other Republican candidates include radio talk show host Bill Spadea, former state Sen. Ed Durr and state Sen. Jon Bramnick.

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