Piloting NJ through the Trump era: Why Mikie Sherrill is running for governor

From leading a Navy helicopter squadron, to New Jersey in the Trump era, Rep. Mikie Sherrill says she's ready for action: On Monday, she officially declared her candidacy for governor.

She jumped into a pileup of candidates to succeed Phil Murphy, who is term limited. Her Democratic rivals include Rep. Josh Gottheimer, former Senate President Stephen Sweeney, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Sean Spiller, head of the state's largest teacher's union.

Sherrill, a former pilot and federal prosecutor, has served in the House since 2018, when she flipped a red district that hadn't voted for a Democrat since 1982. Now, in a packed field for governor, she's the only woman running. Hours after announcing, she spoke with the editorial board about this latest mission. Below is a transcript, edited for brevity.

Q. This is a crowded field for Democrats. What sets you apart?

I bring a fresh perspective. I come from a background of service, from when I first started at the Naval Academy to when, by my early 20s, I was leading men and women in a helicopter squadron and missions around the world. This is what the military trains you for: To bring a diverse group of people together from all over the nation around a common goal.

I think that's something that I've been able to bring to bear. I was told I couldn't win my race in the 11th district of New Jersey when I ran in 2018, and really brought everyone together around those issues we all cared about and was able to have the largest swing from red to blue in the entire nation in that cycle, with a lot of seats flipping.

Then I was told that as a freshman member of Congress, I wouldn't be able to get anything done and it would take a long time. And by my second term, I was named the most effective legislator in the House delegation by the Center for Effective Lawmaking. And despite the fact that we saw losses in a lot of the state in the recent election, in my district – even Morris County, the more traditionally Republican part – not only did we hold on to all the seats, but we were actually able to pick up a few more.

Q. You say we need to make life more affordable for New Jerseyans. How would you do that? Any ideas on the cost of housing, for example?

If you want to know what I would do in Trenton, take a look at my record, whether it's getting fixes for the state and local tax deduction cap through the House twice, addressing grocery prices with a "Shrinkflation" bill, but also a bill to add competition into grocery stores and drive prices down; legislation to make sure no one pays more than 7% of their income on childcare, or the most recent legislation I'm working on to get federal funding to convert office parks or brownfield spaces to housing spaces, so we can address the housing shortage in our state.

Q. Do you think it's possible to contain property taxes without taking on the public worker unions and cutting benefits for folks like cops and teachers, which are largely driving the increases?

Yeah. I think you've got to look at what we can do. I was just talking to one of the mayors in my district about the fact that all the firehouses have private mechanics that are hugely expensive for all their fire trucks, and couldn't they share services? It's looking for opportunities where we can drive costs down without cutting wages, through programs towns want to opt into to continue to have those things they most care about.

Q. Just on cuts to benefits: Is that something that you would look at?

You know, we have to make sure people who work hard have benefits at the end of their life. One of the things that was so impactful to my family is the fact that after they lost everything in the Great Depression, my grandfather went to fight in the war and then came home and got a good union job. He never made tons of money. My mom grew up in a very modest household. But at the end of his life, they had benefits, and when he and my grandma got sick, it didn't bankrupt my family.

Q. The governor famously promised to fix NJ Transit even if it kills him. And by most accounts, he failed. As governor, what will you do differently?

I've already been working hard on that. This is a critical issue. I know this personally because my husband commutes almost every day, and I was commuting when my kids were little — that gut-churning anxiety you feel when you're trying to get your kid at daycare, the scramble when somebody is late from work or can't do pick up or drop off. This is the kind of upending of family life, quality of life, that people are experiencing. We've got to do more. And so I've been talking to NJ Transit, I've been talking to Amtrak. Over time Amtrak has just not been able to maintain the rail. They haven't had enough resources from the federal government. We've got to push in there. That's why I led the delegation advocating for federal funding for upgrades. Secretary Buttigieg just called to tell me that would be coming through, so now we have to apply for that grant money. The good news is, we have a long-term solution: The Gateway tunnel project is going to be a monumental change. The bad news is, it's not going to be here next summer. So what are we going do in the meantime to make sure commuters have a much better experience?

Q. Should the new money raised for New Jersey Transit's operations – the corporate transit fee – be permanent and dedicated to NJT?Would you extend it after it sunsets in five years?

Well first of all, that money has to go to New Jersey Transit. And the first year it did not, actually. The transit fee hasn't actually gone to transit. So, I think it has to go to transit. I'd be happy to take a look.

Q. Switching topics, what do you think Kamala Harris' tight win in New Jersey means? Is there a lesson here for the governor's race? In our last gubernatorial race, Republicans nearly pulled off an upset.

I think the reason we held every seat in my district and even picked up a couple is because I've worked incredibly hard to maintain communications with people there, to constantly be checking in and figuring out, what is it that I can do and deliver to make life better? Whether it's money for flooding, for innovation through the House Armed Services bill or to address PFAS, which are forever chemicals; or making sure we're addressing car theft through driving money into the district for license plate readers – this stuff all comes directly from people in my district. Because of that, I think I saw really good results in this election, and can see really good results around the state.

Q. You say you want New Jersey to set the "gold standard" for protecting rights and freedoms threatened by Donald Trump. What rights do you think we need to solidify and how would you do that?

Obviously, we start with reproductive rights. But beyond that I'm worried about so much more. Trump has said he's going to court martial admirals and generals because I think he wants to replace them with loyalists so he can co-opt the military. I worry about the Secretary of Defense pick he has, because that person has said that basically women shouldn't be serving in many roles in our military, and I have a daughter in the military right now, and I know how hard-fought the gains women have made there have been. And I also know how effective the leadership of women has been, and how necessary when we're fighting in places across the world and trying to win hearts and minds as we move forward on our goals. So, these things are all going to be critically important. And we're continuing to see the attacks that Trump is envisioning from Washington. So, it's about making sure people have this kind of access, that people are protected here. Democratic governors are going to be so key in this fight, and you can already see many coming up with a plan of action – especially those who were in office, as I was, in Trump's last presidency.

Q. Any specific things NJ can do, that you'd focus on as governor?

Trenton initially took action to protect some of the early concerns we had when was overturned. We need to continue to move forward on things like IVF, and making sure the way payment is structured for women seeking reproductive healthcare is more fair and equitable. The state also needs to start stockpiling some of the abortion medication, because I'm worried that if the Project 2025 plan comes to light, you're going to see use of the Comstock Act in trying to prevent the mailing of some abortion pills. We also need to make sure we support reproductive health in our state constitution and embed it there. And we need to take a hard look at how we can, through our constitution and legislation, really protect freedoms we're seeing coming under attack. As we see what type of things are coming from Washington, we need to be very ready to act in protection of people in the state of New Jersey.