\u201cI hear you, New Jersey. Good government doesn’t just manage problems. It solves them.\u201d These were the words of Democrat Mikie Sherrill after her November 4 victory in the 2025 New Jersey gubernatorial election. Her opponent, Trump-endorsed Republican Jack Ciaratell, lost the race with 43% of the vote compared to Sherrill\u2019s 56%. She won by a larger margin than expected, despite New Jersey trending more conservative in recent years. Additionally, voter turnout was especially high this year in New Jersey and nationwide.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sherill, 53, is a former state representative, naval helicopter pilot and prosecutor. She graduated from the Naval Academy in 1994 and spent almost 10 years as a naval helicopter pilot, leading missions in Europe and the Middle East. After serving, she attended law school and joined the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in New Jersey as an assistant federal prosecutor. Motivated by the political climate following the 2016 election, Sherrill ran for Congress in 2018 and flipped a traditionally Republican seat as part of that year\u2019s \u201cblue wave.\u201d Her gubernatorial win is the latest addition to her political legacy. She lives in New Jersey with her four children and their family dog, Goose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the campaign, both candidates presented contrasting visions for the state\u2019s future. They differed on taxes, an especially important issue due to New Jersey\u2019s famously high property tax. Sherill advocated creating better tax relief programs and closing tax loopholes that benefit the wealthy. In contrast, Ciaratelli, drawing on his experience as a business owner, supports freezing taxes for senior citizens and reducing corporate taxes.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another critical issue in the New Jersey elections was the environment. In a state with high electricity and energy bills, both candidates supported the use of solar and nuclear power. However, they promised to get them in different ways. Ciaratelli would have pulled New Jersey out of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, an initiative of Northeast states to cut greenhouse gas emissions and stop building wind turbines. On the other hand, Sherill wants to build cheaper and cleaner power and try to freeze the spiking electricity costs. She has also championed banning phones in schools and increasing funding for school mental health counselors. Finally, she voiced support for reproductive rights, contrasting sharply with Ciattarelli\u2019s pro-life abortion stance.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When elected, her lieutenant governor will be Dale Caldwell. Lieutenant governors are the second in command and can be acting governor if the governor is absent. Caldwell is a pastor at a church, the president of Centenary University and works on many educational and community boards throughout the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the election night after her victory, Mikie Sherill addressed the New Jersey state motto of \u2018Liberty and Prosperity\u2019 with, \u201ctoday, I am determined to build prosperity for all of our citizens.\u201d She also mentioned in her speech that on day one, she will declare a state of emergency on energy to try to drive down the utility costs. When voicing her anti-Trump beliefs, Sherill said, \u201cHere in New Jersey we know that this nation has not ever been, nor will ever be, ruled by kings.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI hear you, New Jersey. Good government doesn’t just manage problems. It solves them.\u201d These were the words of Democrat Mikie Sherrill after her November 4 victory in the 2025 New Jersey gubernatorial election. Her opponent, Trump-endorsed Republican Jack Ciaratell, lost the race with 43% of the vote compared to Sherrill\u2019s 56%. She won by a larger margin than expected, despite New Jersey trending more conservative in recent years. Additionally, voter turnout was especially high<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":428,"featured_media":12520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[318,320],"tags":[],"coauthors":[698],"class_list":["post-12518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Screenshot-2025-11-21-at-2.21.40-PM-e1763752950847.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/428"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12521,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12518\/revisions\/12521"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12518"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=12518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}