Here's who could replace New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill in Congress

Now that U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s new title is governor-elect, someone will need to take her place in Congress.

Sherrill represents a North Jersey district that she flipped blue in 2018, defeating a Republican candidate after the GOP incumbent retired. A flurry of Democrats are hoping to replace her in what’s since become a reliably blue district, and the winner will be determined by a special election.

We don’t know when that will be yet exactly, but candidates likely have months — or weeks — to make their case to voters. Some argue they’re normal people, not politicians, and most focus on or highlight their interest in fighting President Donald Trump. Trump’s unpopularity in the state has been largely credited for part of why Sherrill’s gubernatorial campaign was so successful.

First, Sherrill needs to actually resign from her congressional seat, and she hasn’t indicated whether she intends to wait until her Jan. 20 inauguration or vacate the seat earlier.

The timing could depend on what congressional Democrats see as most helpful, and whether Sherrill wants to wait for state legislators to pass an effort that would speed up the special election process.

Under current law, once the seat is empty the governor can declare a special election to take place within 70-76 days, and a general election another 64-70 days after that.

Sherrill told reporters in Trenton the day after her Nov. 4 win that she will work with leaders in the U.S. House and New Jersey Legislature to run the special election “as smoothly as possible” to replace her.

“I likely won’t be getting involved. There are some great candidates in there,” said Sherrill, whose 11th District includes parts of Essex, Morris, and Passaic Counties.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy endorsed his former campaign manager for the seat but he’s far from the only one in the mix.

Various local elected officials, a former member of Congress who lost his seat to a Republican, a former aide to former President Barack Obama, and a political newcomer are all looking to replace Sherrill. There’s also a Republican.

A former member of Congress

Tom Malinowski started as a freshman House Democrat alongside Sherrill in 2019 before losing his seat to Republican Thomas Kean Jr. in the 2022 election when Democrats ”sacrificed” him in redistricting, as Politico put it. His former district is right next to Sherrill’s and encompasses parts of Union, Somerset, Morris, and Sussex Counties, and all of Hunterdon and Warren Counties.

Malinowski, the recent chair of the Hunterdon County Democratic Committee, worked as former President Barack Obama’s assistant secretary of state for democracy and human rights. He describes witnessing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in his campaign video. He said he held more than 100 town hall meetings and was the first swing district Democrat to call for Trump’s first impeachment in 2019.

“When we beat back that mob on Jan. 6, we thought that was over,” he says in his campaign video. “We were wrong.”

A political strategist who worked for Murphy and other big names

Brendan Gill worked as Murphy’s campaign manager for his 2017 win, and helped elect Sherrill to Congress for the first time. He also worked for the campaigns of Sen. Cory Booker, former Gov. Jon S. Corzine, and former Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, as well as disgraced former Sen. Bob Menendez.

He’s now an Essex County commissioner and resides in Montclair, Sherrill’s hometown.

Gill said that he saw the good that government can do during his work for Democratic leaders and is running to fight Trump.

“Now I’m running for Congress because our president, enabled by bootlickers and Congress and Wall Street, is wreaking havoc on our streets, hollowing out our economy, tearing down our American values — they’re grabbing every chair for themselves, leaving nothing for the rest of us,” he says in his campaign video.

Murphy said he’s endorsing Gill and that “in many respects, I wouldn’t be here without Brendan’s support.” He called the field of contenders “impressive.”

A former Obama adviser

Cammie Croft, a former adviser to Obama, launched her campaign in September. Croft worked as a deputy director of new media for Obama, a role in which she says she helped pass the Affordable Care Act as well as “advancing humane, bipartisan immigration reforms.” Croft also worked in communications for the U.S. Department of Energy and most recently spent 10 years working as a social impact strategist for startups, nonprofits, and brands.

Croft features her three children in her campaign video, saying she wants to tell them she “did everything I possibly could” when they ask her what she did to fight in Trump’s America.

She says on her website she will advocate for affordable healthcare, protect Medicare and SNAP, and invest in “clean energy and modern infrastructure.”

The former mayor of Morris Township

Jeff Grayzel, a Morris Township committee member who previously served as the township’s first Democratic mayor, squarely focuses on fighting Trump on his campaign website, and says he has a record of fighting the GOP.

Grayzel, an engineer who runs a medical device firm, says he wants to fight the president “at every turn” and use any leverage possible in Congress.

“I’m disgusted that Donald Trump is getting away with shredding our democracy, and won’t stand by as Trump and his MAGA lackeys in congress carry out his fascist, authoritarian agenda,” he says on his site.

A Passaic County commissioner

Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett says he will fight “Trump and MAGA Republicans because he’s already been fighting them for years.”

Bartlett touts his work on the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, labor partnerships, and work as a lawyer for former President Joe Biden’s team in 2020.

Bartlett launched a bid for the seat in 2017 but dropped out that December. He was able to transfer leftover money from that account to this campaign.

Passaic County has had an important role politically in New Jersey. The majority-Hispanic county shifted far toward Trump in 2024 but swung back to Sherrill this year.

A political newcomer

Anna Lee Williams was the first Democrat to enter the race back in July. Her slogan is “you deserve a fair deal” and her website says “let’s be honest about what’s not working.”

Williams, of Morristown, educated immigrants about their rights through the nonprofit Make the Road and honored Vietnamese stories through Vietnamese Boat People. She has also worked on social impact initiatives for private companies and says she’s a “normal person,” not a politician.

Williams wants to expand parental leave, combine pre-K with the K-12 school system, refund NJ Transit riders for delayed transit, and ban private stock trading for Congress members.

A veteran from Texas

Justin Strickland is a veteran who grew up in Texas and worked for the Department of Defense before moving to Chatham and being elected to the borough council in 2023. He unsuccessfully ran for county commissioner shortly after, and foreshadowed his congressional bid last December, less than two weeks after Sherrill launched her gubernatorial primary campaign.

The Democrat says on his campaign website that he stood up to his party because he listened to residents against a housing plan, noting that “doing what’s right matters more than doing what’s safe within his political party.” He floated term limits, capping in-state tuition, and coupons for childcare at a launch event.

A former Christie aide

Randolph Mayor Joe Hathaway, a former aide to former Republican Gov. Chris Christie, argues that the district needs a Republican who is more interested in the day-to-day work of representing constituents than career politicians who chase the spotlight.

“We don’t need more political games in Congress, we need a workhorse,” he said.

Hathaway, a former Yale football player, has worked in corporate affairs and communications, and managed executive communications and operations in healthcare and financial services.

He campaigned for Republican Jack Ciattarelli’s unsuccessful gubernatorial bid and has recently released statements criticizing Sherrill, Malinowski, and New York City governor-elect Zohran Mamdani, and praising Trump’s role in negotiations in the Middle East.