Democrat Mikie Sherrill wins New Jersey governor race

Democrat Mikie Sherrill, a New Jersey member of the U.S. House of Representatives, won the Garden State’s gubernatorial race.

In one of several elections seen as an indication of the public mood toward the Trump administration’s policies, Sherill will succeed Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.

The U.S. Naval Academy graduate, helicopter pilot and former federal prosecutor first entered politics in 2018, as anti-Trump sentiment swept the United States during his first term.

Her victory comes after fellow liberal Abigail Spanberger won Virginia’s gubernatorial race and New York City elected Democrat Zohran Mamdani as mayor.

With almost all votes counted, the congresswoman defeated Republican Jack Ciattarelli, a former state lawmaker.

At a victory rally, Sherrill said his election victory would bring a “new day” for the state.

“I know times are tough. I know not everyone voted for me, but I work for everyone,” she said.

She told supporters she would follow the country’s founding principles and stressed that this election sent a message to US President Donald Trump.

“We are going to follow Lady Liberty’s beacon. We are not going to give in to our darkest impulses,” she said. “Here in New Jersey, we know that this nation has never been and never will be ruled by kings. We swear an oath to a Constitution, not a king.”

The statewide race was neck and neck between Trump-backed Ciattarelli and Sherill in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 4 general election in a reliably blue state.

Both have focused on the cost of living, with Ciattarelli, a businessman and former Republican state representative, proposing cutting individual and corporate tax rates and using a new school funding formula to lower taxes statewide.

Sherrill campaigned on proposed tax incentives for new housing developments and a freeze on utility rate increases.

State governors are key figures in the United States, wielding enormous power that controls many aspects of American life, including areas from education to abortion rights. Governors have a say in matters decided at the state level.

In New Jersey, governors are limited to two consecutive terms. But they are not limited in non-consecutive terms. The third largest US state and one of the original 13 American colonies, New Jersey last had a Republican governor in 2018.

As polling stations opened on Tuesday, the BBC’s US partner CBS reported that some polling stations received bomb threats that prompted temporary closures and a police response.

Sherrill called the threats “a clear attempt to undermine our democratic system and intimidate New Jerseyans from going to the polls to exercise their right to vote.”

His opponent Ciattarelli told CBS that “there is no place in politics for such nonsense.”