What Mikie Sherrill’s victory could mean for 2026

Voters want to see more vigorous pushback against Trump's destructive policies.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D) speaks after winning the New Jersey governor’s race on Nov. 4. (CSPAN)

By Matthew Frankel

Transparency is important. So, I really must own this. I have been a Democrat my entire life, but I was worried, very worried, about Mikie Sherrill’s chances on election day this week.

Yes, it’s hard to imagine now, having seen Sherrill handily beat her opponent, Republican Jack Ciattarelli, but leading up to election day, some Democrats in New Jersey were sweating it out. I was among them, and who could blame us? Most Democrats I know suffer from some form of undiagnosed PTSD from the past few years. It is more than just a feeling of worry or anger, but a sense of true helplessness that everything we know, everything we stand for no longer matters. And though feelings can dissipate, they sometimes stay with you.

I still remember when Trump shocked the world on election night in 2016—and the
exact spot in my backyard where, still up in the dawn hours, I looked up at the sky
in disbelief and pain, feeling totally lost. Last year on election night, I
recall the exact moment, 8:21 p.m., when I felt a tremendous shake that rocked my
body as I realized Trump could actually win again.

As a child, I absorbed the lessons my politically active parents taught me about the McCarthy era. People felt powerless. Public accusations were lobbed against innocent people. Lives were ruined, and a political monster destroyed our country’s discourse and standards for how we treated each other. And we did nothing.

I remember visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., when I was a teenager and seeing a massive display of American newspaper headlines and reports chronicling the specific actions of Nazi Germany, all showcasing to the world atrocities in real time. And we did nothing.

And, of course, there have been generations of inequality, discrimination, segregation, and actions of hate against African Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, the LGBTQ+ community, and many others. And during many of these moments, we have done nothing or not enough.

But Sherrill did something significant for those of us in New Jersey—from the outset, she made clear that her campaign for governor would reflect the times we live in. And right now, at this moment, our country revolves around the actions of one person: Donald Trump. In a political campaign, it is easy to be reactive or change course. Certainly, in New Jersey, there is no shortage of opinionated big mouths (me included), Monday-morning quarterbacks, special interest groups, and political opponents who can move candidates off their game. It is a true credit to Sherrill and her campaign staff that they never budged.

Sherrill made it clear that this election was not just a choice between her and Ciattarelli. She understood that the lane to victory was simple and straightforward: You either favor Trump’s tactics and policies or you were joining her in the fight against them.

Clearly, her timing was right. Trump announced in the midst of the campaign that he was “terminating” the popular and much-needed Gateway transportation tunnel; he has had Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arresting people around the Garden State (and the country) with little regard for the law or human rights, and our state’s economy is tanking as a result. Grocery store prices and utility costs are high, as are unemployment and jobless claims.

Many in New Jersey, which has over 800,000 more Democrats than Republicans, have watched in horror as Trump sends National Guard troops from red states to monitor and patrol blue states; builds a $350 million ballroom at the White House while our government is literally shut down; creates trade wars with our allies; takes money from our country’s most insecure and vulnerable while giving at least $20 billion to his authoritarian buddy in Argentina; and continues to randomly threaten countries, including Canada, Greenland, Mexico, Venezuela, and Nigeria. Times are scary. And after watching national party leaders stay quiet or play rope-a-dope for the past year, Democratic voters across the country wanted to see more vigorous pushback. Sherrill and her team understood that.

Sherrill has been my neighbor for several years. I remember the day I met her, a few months before she formally announced her first run for Congress and flipped a Republican-leaning seat. Her transparency, service to our country, independence, and knowledge of the issues were impressive. But what struck me most was her deep, personal reaction to Trump’s first election and her passion to do something and fight. As I later told her, she made clear that she would be an elected official I would be extremely proud to point out to my young daughter.

New Jersey has spoken, and thankfully, we have elected someone who has not only helped address our PTSD but who also will prioritize fighting back against Trump and his destructive policies—not because of ideology or politics but because of a right vs. wrong.

I am a moderate Democrat, which sometimes makes me a man without a party in New Jersey. I voted for Sherrill, but I think highly of the person she beat. Ciattarelli deeply understands policy, has a history of working across party lines, and (especially in the space I am specifically passionate about, education) has shown up and challenged the status quo. However, Ciattarelli underestimated two essential things in this campaign: Sherrill’s crystalized vision for her campaign, which meant she would not be sidetracked, and how voters across party lines feel the need to do something about Trump’s disregard for and destruction of our democracy and our economy.

During the height of the McCarthy era, Republican Sen. Margaret Chase Smith stated in her “Declaration of Conscience” on the floor of the Senate, “The right to criticize; the right to hold unpopular beliefs; the right to protest; the right of independent thought. The exercise of these rights should not cost one single American citizen his reputation or his right to a livelihood.” Today, we see those same fundamental rights being taken away by Trump, and voters are not happy.

Democracy can’t fix itself—it has to come from the people. Sherrill understands that and has challenged us to join the fight by electing someone who would push back on Trump. That message has remained a constant of her campaign, even when others questioned it.

Now we enter yet another political year, and an even more important one, so let’s be clear, especially to our Democratic national leaders: Sherrill’s victory created the blueprint for 2026. Hopefully, the Democratic Party will not screw it up, will study what Sherrill accomplished, and will look to scale and replicate her successes. Most of all, I hope the national Democratic Party leaders will remember and even challenge voters to remember, as Wendell Phillips once stated, that “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty” and provide voters with the same kind of focus Sherrill provided New Jersey voters this year, one that reflects the times we live in and does not budge or waver, regardless of what the critics say.

Matthew Frankel and his national strategic communications and engagement firm, MDF Strategies, are based in New Jersey, where he has led advocacy initiatives for a variety of corporate and non-profit clients, with a specific focus on education reform and voting rights. Prior, he served as a C-suite executive for a variety of entertainment companies, as a press secretary on Capitol Hill, and for a variety of political campaigns across the country.

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