(The Center Square) — Democrat Mikie Sherrill was sworn into office Tuesday as New Jersey’s governor as the former congressional lawmaker looks to make good on her campaign pledges to reduce energy and housing costs and shield the state from the Trump administration’s policies.
Sherrill, 54, is a former Navy pilot and four-term congresswoman who defeated former Republican assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli in the Nov. 4 elections. She replaces outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat who was prevented from seeking reelection because of term limits. Her running mate, ordained pastor and former Centenary College President Dale Caldwell, will be the state’s new lieutenant governor.
In her remarks, Sherrill vowed to reduce housing costs, “freeze” energy bills and push back against President Donald Trump’s divisive policies on immigration, housing and civil rights.
“We see a president illegally usurping power,” she said in her inauguration address at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark. “He has unconstitutionally enacted a tariff regime to make billions for himself and his family, while everyone else sees costs go higher and higher. Here, we demand people in public service actually serve the public.”
Shortly after taking the oath of office, Sherill signed two executive orders Tuesday, one declaring a state of emergency on energy and “freezing” rates charged by utility companies and another encouraging the development of nuclear and solar power to meet the state’s energy needs.
“I’ve heard you, New Jersey – we are facing an affordability crisis. You want costs to come down,” Sherill said. “This is just the beginning. We are going to take on the affordability crisis, and we are going to shake up the status quo.”
But Sherrill also took aim at the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, saying immigrant communities are “living in fear, children who are afraid that their parents will disappear in an ICE raid while they are at school.”
Outgoing Gov. Murphy signed a bill to limit immigration enforcement in New Jersey that designates hospitals and schools as “safe zones” blocking U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents from going inside those facilities without a judicial warrant. Sherrill’s new administration will be required to write the rules on what the state considers “sensitive places” off limits to ICE agents.
The New Jersey governor’s race drew national attention as a potential preview for what’s to come in the 2026 midterms and an early gauge of Trump’s favorability with voters. Record numbers of voters turned out, according to state elections officials, who said more than 1 million ballots were cast during early voting. Polls ahead of Tuesday showed a neck-and-neck race between the two candidates.
On the campaign trail, she tied Ciattarelli’s platform to Trump’s agenda, warning that he would seek to replicate the president’s divisive policies in the state if elected. But she also kept her distance from Murphy, a fellow Democrat, who has been criticized for his taxing and spending policies.
