Shockingly, despite the earlier hype for four-term New Jersey Democrat Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill when she announced for New Jersey governor, she has largely shaped up to be a political lightweight who seems consistently out of her depth, whether it is when she is dealing with her more competent Republican opponent, when she is on the campaign trail, and, sometimes, even when she is speaking with a sympathetic member of the left-wing media.
In her primary, Sherrill had to beat five major candidates. They included: Congressman Josh Gottheimer, who was a Caucasian Jew; Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, an African American; Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, also a Caucasian Jew; Sean Spiller, the mixed-race (half black, half white) President of the New Jersey Education Association; and Stephen Sweeney, a Caucasian former State Senate President. Sherrill won the race for several reasons, but she and others trumpeted the fact that she was the only woman, and it certainly benefited her greatly. The other two non-white male candidates (Jews are never considered minorities) had major problems: Baraka was considered too radically left-wing by many party types, and Spiller had no money of his own, running on a Super PAC that made it largely impossible to coordinate.
Granted, Sherrill’s background originally seemed to indicate that she might be a good choice for a candidate. She had a military record, which often produces assertive and attractive nominees, and had originally won her ancestrally Republican seat when the higher income voters soured on Donald Trump in 2018 and backed her for an open seat. She easily won three re-elections. And she could raise a lot of money.
But despite the surface picture of candidate competence that was painted by her background, Congresswoman Sherrill has turned out to be a complete dud on the campaign trail. For example:
- Sherrill couldn’t answer an easy lay-up question from a media interviewer for a disturbingly long amount of time, which made her look vacuous and was turned into an attack ad.
- Sherrill appeared on a left-wing show where she was unable to give a good explanation as to how she made millions of dollars in stocks as a sitting member of Congress. Which is a question she should have been prepared for. This was with a friendly interviewer, mind you.
- Sherrill released a nasty, tone deaf statement regarding her vote on the Charlie Kirk resolution. This attempt to split the difference by voting to honor Kirk and then disparaging him in a statement made no sense, as it looks political and will not gain her any votes.
- Sherrill likely used her influence to get her twins appointed to the Naval Academy, despite her plan to seek higher office and knowing how terrible that would look if/when it came out.
- Sherrill pushed for LGBT education in the schools and (seemingly) said parents shouldn’t be able to opt out. She should have noticed that former Governor Terry McAuliffe lost his comeback bid in Virginia after making a similar statement.
- In the recent debate, Sherrill accused her opponent of mass murder, killing “tens of thousands of people by printing your misinformation, your propaganda.” This kind of serious charge is politically stupid because it is inherently implausible to true independents, and the others who are undecided in the closing part of a campaign, which will lead them to believe that she is making a reckless and dishonest attack. A candidate shouldn’t make this kind of charge unless he/she is actually running against a former dictator of a third-world nation. Now, her opponent is suing her for defamation, which will keep the issue before the public.
- Sherrill and her associated Super PAC have taken sizable amounts of money, in multiple donations, from a Chinese citizen, which is against the law. She also took money from him for her House reelections.
None of this is a good look for Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill.
Now, Sherrill is still leading the RCP average 47.9 percent to 43.9 percent, although she has been steadily sinking in the polls. So, she may win the New Jersey governorship despite all her campaign flubs and screw-ups.
Of course, it is also quite possible that some of the left-wing pollsters are just off, again, as they were during the 2024 presidential race, and that the GOP candidate will have a bonus when the actual votes are counted.
But regardless of the final result, that doesn’t mean that Mikie Sherrill was, in fact, a particularly good candidate.