Mikie Sherrill Is Sworn In as Governor of New Jersey

Ms. Sherrill beat a Republican endorsed by President Trump and did what no politician in New Jersey has done since 1961: win her party a third consecutive term in the governor’s office.

Mikie Sherrill was sworn in on Tuesday as New Jersey’s 57th governor after a resounding victory in a race that was framed by her fellow Democrats as a must-win battle in a broader campaign to weaken President Trump’s grip on national politics.

Ms. Sherrill dispatched a Trump-endorsed Republican candidate, Jack Ciattarelli, by 14 points in November as she did what no one else has done in New Jersey in 65 years: secure her party a third consecutive term in the governor’s office in Trenton.

Ms. Sherrill replaces Philip D. Murphy, a Democrat who has led New Jersey for two terms.

In her inaugural address, she did not utter Mr. Trump’s name a single time. But she spoke extensively about the perils she believed his presidency posed and celebrated the essential role New Jersey played in the founding of the United States 250 years ago.

“These are some weary years, but I’ll be damned if in this state, at this time, we cry any silent tears,” Ms. Sherrill said after taking the oath of office, her hand on a bound copy of New Jersey’s Constitution, the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

“We refuse to be silent as doors are shut on too many of our friends and neighbors,” she said. “Too many children and seniors who don’t have enough to eat, people who work too hard and still can’t get ahead.”

She and her lieutenant governor, Dale Caldwell, chose to hold their inauguration in the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, the state’s largest city, rather than in the capital, Trenton. The last governor elected in New Jersey to be sworn in somewhere other than in the Trenton War Memorial was Christine Todd Whitman, in 1998. Ms. Whitman, a former Republican who endorsed Ms. Sherrill, was the first woman to serve as New Jersey’s governor; Ms. Sherrill, who turned 54 on Monday, is the second.

A former Navy helicopter pilot, Ms. Sherrill is the first female veteran to serve as a U.S. governor. She graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1994 and served in the Navy for nine years before entering law school at Georgetown University. Raised in Virginia, she and her husband, Jason Hedberg, moved in 2010 to Montclair, N.J., an affluent town known for its left-leaning voters. The couple has four children, all of whom were at her side on Tuesday.

On Saturday, Ms. Sherrill and Mr. Hedberg, an investment banker who works for the Royal Bank of Canada, attended Abigail Spanberger’s inauguration as governor of Virginia. On Tuesday, Ms. Spanberger, a former C.I.A. officer, attended Ms. Sherrill’s swearing-in ceremony.

The two women were roommates in Washington after both were elected to the House in 2018, as Democrats flipped the chamber during Mr. Trump’s first term as president.

Only New Jersey and Virginia hold races for governor the year after a presidential election, and the chairman of the Democratic National Committee has cast their victories as important wins en route to November 2026, when midterm congressional elections will determine party control of Congress. Democrats have had limited clout in Washington since Mr. Trump was elected to a second term and are eager to regain a toehold in a Congress controlled by Republicans, who have done little to limit the president’s broad expansion of executive power.

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a progressive icon who drew roughly 2,000 people to a rally on Monday in New Jersey, cited Ms. Sherrill’s victory and decisive Democratic wins in Virginia and New York City as strong indicators for the midterm elections. A Democratic majority in either the House or the Senate — or both — would “go a long way to neutralizing the disastrous policies of Trump,” he said.

But in an interview after his address in support of Analilia Mejía, a left-leaning candidate for Ms. Sherrill’s vacant House seat, Mr. Sanders stressed that it would take more to win than simply running against the president.

“Of course we’re going to take on Trumpism every day,” he said. “But it is important for working people to understand that we’re not just supporting going back to the old status quo.”

“We want fundamental economic transformation in this country and an economy that works for everybody,” he added.

On Tuesday morning, guests began filing into the performing arts center’s large, ornate theater two hours before Ms. Sherrill was sworn in. It was a see-and-be-seen moment draped in symbolism — and opportunity — for the political elite gathered.

Bruce Springsteen anthems played from speakers. Two men dressed in colonial tricorn hats and Revolutionary War garb peered down from the stage as attendees milled near the theater’s orchestra seats.

Ms. Sherrill took the stage with her family, wearing a royal blue blazer over a white pantsuit, a sartorial choice often understood to represent female solidarity. Many other women in the audience were also dressed in white, and Craig Coughlin, the speaker of the State Assembly, struck a pointedly feminist tone when he began the ceremony by noting that Ms. Sherrill was the first Democratic woman to serve as governor.

Ms. Sherrill appeared at ease from the start, eschewing the stiff formalities that often accompany ceremonial transitions of power. After Emerson Crooks, a Vietnam War veteran, led the Pledge of Allegiance, she chased him across the stage to give him a parting hug. She got up a second time from her center-stage seat to address Genesis Rincon, who had just delivered a spine-tingling rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

An inaugural ball is set for Tuesday evening at the American Dream mall, a massive but financially struggling commercial hub in Bergen County in northern New Jersey.

Ms. Sherrill proceeded methodically as she prepared to take over, conducting a statewide tour of diners to meet with voters and seeking feedback from residents through an online survey. On Sunday, she posted a video of herself calling a respondent to “thank them personally and hear more about what’s on their minds.”

She has announced roughly two dozen cabinet appointments and has made it clear that she is searching for talent beyond New Jersey. Her pick to lead the Department of Education helped to run the public school system in Texas. And her choice to lead the embattled Motor Vehicle Commission reduced drivers’ average wait time at motor vehicle offices in Colorado to 15 minutes, down from 45 minutes, and boosted the issuance of REAL ID cards, the identification now required for air travel without a passport. New Jersey’s REAL ID rollout has been bogged down by delays.

“Under this administration, agencies will be judged by results, not rhetoric,” Ms. Sherrill said in her address. “We will work to make government more transparent. We will work to save you time and money. You may not agree with every decision we make, but you will know why we made it.”

Ms. Sherrill has also announced plans to have one person run both NJ Transit and the Turnpike Authority, which oversees the state’s two busiest highways. Environmental and transit advocates cheered the reimagined role and noted that her choice to run the joint entity, Kris Kolluri, now leads NJ Transit — a harbinger, they hope, of a governor who prioritizes mass transit over vehicle use.

Several of her most prominent appointees are women, including her chief of staff, Alex Ball, and her nominees for attorney general, Jennifer Davenport; comptroller, Shirley Emehelu; and transportation commissioner, Priya Jain. Ms. Sherrill’s cabinet selections must be confirmed by the State Senate, although individuals can serve in an “acting” capacity even without legislative approval.

Ms. Sherrill acted quickly on a pledge that was central to her campaign: declaring a state of emergency aimed at freezing electricity costs and working to increase in-state power generation. Ms. Sherrill interrupted her inaugural address to sign an executive order identifying utility costs as a state emergency, as well as a second order aimed at increasing power generation in New Jersey.

Ms. Sherrill has also said that she intends to cut red tape for businesses, hire more mental health counselors for schools and invest in high-impact tutoring. Using data gathered through a new “social media addiction observatory,” she has said that her administration will take on digital platforms that use algorithms to lure children and teenagers.

Dr. Caldwell, the incoming lieutenant governor, is a Methodist pastor with extensive experience in school leadership. In 2023, he became the first Black president of Centenary University, in Hackettstown, N.J., and he served for 25 years on the board of education in New Brunswick, where he lives.

He spent two decades as president of the Educational Services Commission of New Jersey, which operates schools for children with autism and at-risk behaviors. He also helped to form a charter school in Asbury Park, N.J.

“New Jersey is uniquely positioned to lead the nation forward,” Dr. Caldwell said in an address after he was sworn in. “We are home to families who work hard, dream boldly and refuse to give up.”

Ms. Sherrill’s most successful laugh lines embraced New Jersey’s reputation for sass.

“We have invented everything from the lightbulb to the moving picture to the laser, produced and inspired artists from Sinatra to Springsteen to SZA,” she said. “New Jersey never gets enough appreciation. So, as the newest leader of our great state, for all these artists, battles and innovations, I wanted to take a moment to say, ‘You’re welcome, America.’”

Related Content