New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill said Wednesday that her decisive win over Republican Jack Ciattarelli gives her “a big mandate” to deliver on her campaign promise to make the Garden State more affordable, even as she signaled a willingness to work with President Donald Trump’s administration to advance key infrastructure priorities.
Meeting with outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy at the Statehouse, Sherrill struck a confident yet measured tone as she prepares to take office in January. “The reason I was so focused on affordability issues is because my communities are focused on affordability issues and how they’re going to be successful,” she told reporters after the meeting.
The former congresswoman from Montclair campaigned heavily on lowering costs for middle-class families, pledging to freeze monthly electricity bills by executive order and expand state assistance for first-time homebuyers. Her message resonated with voters across demographic and political lines, propelling her to a double-digit victory that flipped several counties previously carried by Republicans.
Sherrill’s coalition included about seven in ten nonwhite voters, with especially strong support among Black (90%) and Asian (80%) voters, while two-thirds of Hispanic voters also backed her. About half of white voters supported Sherrill, helping her win in traditionally competitive suburban areas.
“What I saw was that our message was resonating,” she said. “People want a governor who’s focused on what really matters — jobs, housing, and economic stability.”
Though she had been sharply critical of Trump’s trade and tariff policies during the campaign — labeling them “a worldwide extortion racket” — Sherrill dialed back that rhetoric Wednesday, saying she had not yet spoken with the president but was “certainly” open to working with the administration to secure federal funding for the stalled Gateway rail tunnel between New Jersey and Manhattan. The project’s financing has been caught in limbo during the ongoing government shutdown.
“What unites us,” she said, “is that people want government to actually help them live their lives — affordably, safely, and with dignity.”