, Anchor | November 7, 2025 | Politics, NJ Decides 2025
When Democrat Mikie Sherrill is sworn into office in January, she will become the second woman to serve as governor of New Jersey. The first was Republican Christine Todd Whitman, who held the office from 1994 to 2001.
Whitman, who endorsed Sherrill during her campaign, called Sherrill “the right person for the job.” In an interview with NJ Spotlight News, Whitman said she was surprised by the margin of Sherrill’s victory but not by voters’ appetite for change.
“While all politics is local and people wanted to hear what Mikie was going to do for the state, I think many voters also wanted to send a message that they wanted somebody different — and that’s what she represented,” Whitman said.
Sherrill, a former Navy pilot and federal prosecutor who has represented the state in Congress since her election in 2018, ran a centrist campaign focused on bipartisan problem-solving, an approach Whitman believes resonated deeply with New Jersey’s electorate.
“There’s absolutely still room for centrists in politics,” Whitman said. “The largest bloc of voters are independents. People are tired of extremes on both sides.”
Whitman pointed to entrenched partisanship and political gerrymandering as barriers to genuine representation, noting that many voters now have little real choice at the ballot box.
“We’ve gotten to the point where this duopoly, Republicans and Democrats, just isn’t serving the people,” she said. “Most offices are decided in the primaries, and that’s wrong.”
Whitman co-founded the Forward Party with former presidential candidate Andrew Yang and political strategist Michael Willner as an alternative to the two-party system.
Whitman said she decided to endorse Sherrill because of her track record in Congress and her collaborative approach.
“She’s a strong woman who doesn’t care who gets the credit as long as the issues move forward,” Whitman said. “That’s what I want in an elected official.”
Sherrill, a mother of four, balanced her political career with family life- something Whitman said reflects her strength and discipline. Whitman also reflected on the three-decade gap between her own election and Sherrill’s historic win.
“It’s taken too long,” she said. “We’ve been inculcated with this message that women should stand back, that their highest and best use is to have children. But women belong in every level of leadership.”