On January 20th, New Jersey will swear in Mikie Sherrill, its 57th governor. Not since 1961 has a governor from one party succeeded another of the same party in this office. Democratic Congresswoman Sherrill shares many similar platforms with outgoing Democrat Phil Murphy, but her campaign made a great impact in noting that she also differs from him in many ways.
“I think we will likely broadly see a similar approach as Murphy but with different emphases,” shares Kristoffer Shield, Historian at Eagleton Center on the American Governor and Director of the Eagleton Science and Politics Program at Rutgers University. “She is seen as generally more moderate than Murphy, but she also got good support from New Jersey progressives in the general election, so she will need to answer to those voters as well. Murphy’s approach to President Trump was often to work with him when Murphy felt it would benefit New Jersey and strongly oppose him on other issues. I expect we’ll see more of that from Governor-Elect Sherrill, though perhaps with more emphasis on resisting Trump’s policies given the current political climate.”
TRUMPING TRUMP
One of the Trump policies the Murphy camp pushed back strongly against was immigration enforcement. Going back to Murphy’s first term, in 2018, the Immigrant Trust Directive was issued by then Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, which was an effort to build trust between New Jersey’s law enforcement and the immigrant communities as well as to push back against Trump. In doing so, it limited the voluntary assistance that New Jersey’s officers could provide to federal immigration officials. During Trump’s second term, Murphy reemphasized his stance, keeping the directive in place and often publicly speaking out against ICE’s actions.
As Sherrill comes into office, she has not explicitly stated whether or not she plans to continue the directive. Her stance seems to encourage overall reform, which would happen at the federal level. Earlier last year, Sherrill said the directive was working well, but by the fall, her statements shifted a bit. During a gubernatorial debate in September, she stated, “What I’m going to do is make sure we’re following the law and the Constitution, so that’ll include due process rights and the Constitution.” As a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of New Jersey, Sherrill had been involved in deporting noncitizens who broke the law.
Another area where Trump and Murphy have differed greatly is with regard to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies. When inaugurated as president last January, Trump immediately issued executive orders aimed at dismantling DEI, calling it discriminatory. These orders included forcing states to eliminate DEI programs in schools or to risk losing federal funding. To the contrary, Murphy’s office had signed executive orders promoting DEI in 2023 and called Trump’s 2025 orders “reckless and irresponsible.”
New Jersey pushed back strongly, and to date, no federal funding has been lost due to DEI programming, which largely remains in public schools. Sherrill is a strong supporter of inclusive education and diversity. She believes more LGBTQ-related education belongs in the classroom, has supported anti-discrimination law in Congress and supports the creation of more magnet schools, bringing together children from both urban and suburban communities. What she will specifically push for or maintain once in office remains to be seen.
While Murphy was willing to push back against Trump, as Shields mentioned, throughout his tenure he also worked with him when it was in his best interest. Murphy was very much against the Congestion Relief Zone put in place in lower Manhattan one year ago. As soon as Trump took office, he sought his help, and the President agreed – pulling federal approval and demanding New York end the program. It has not worked, as NY Governor Kathy Hochul and the MTA sued to keep it running. A judge granted them a temporary stay, and it remains in effect to this day.
Mikie Sherrill has not taken a public stance thus far, but in late December, she did suggest there’s a way to hit back when the World Cup comes to town, saying, “Possibly people coming into our state from NY will be paying congestion fee tolls so they can go enjoy the game.”
THE NJ ENERGY CRISIS
Sherrill spent much of her campaign telling New Jerseyans she will make things more affordable [than they had become under eight years of Murphy’s administration].
“So much of her campaign was run on affordability issues—and it was clear that these issues were important to New Jersey voters—that I think that is where her focus has to start. It will be interesting to see if she continues Murphy’s approach on property taxes or if those programs change; I don’t think we have a good sense of that yet,” Shields explains. “The issue she was most clear and specific about during the campaign was energy prices. I think you will see her talk about this in her inaugural address and sign an executive order on her first day. It’s not clear legally, though, how far that order can go and she’ll need a longer-term strategy on energy prices, too. I expect we’ll hear a lot about that longer term strategy pretty quickly, too, because the two things she can really point to as things she was elected on are this and opposing Trump.”
Sherrill’s prospective executive order is expected to declare a state of emergency to freeze utility rates, preventing any increases within the next year. You may recall this past summer there was a large spike in your utility bill after the regional grid operator ran an auction that greatly increased the prices to supply power. The costs were passed directly onto customers. Though many blamed Murphy, others insist he did not have immediate control over the rate hike. He tried to make some inroads after the fact such as supporting direct bill credits and urging federal and regional reform. As a campaign promise, Sherrill also pledged to go beyond an executive order and immediately begin work to “massively build out cheaper and cleaner power generation, and require more transparency from our utility companies, including PSE&G, JCP&L, Atlantic City Electric, and Rockland Electric and our grid operator PJM.”
The incoming governor says she will push Board of Public Utilities commissioners to address the utility rates, or they will be replaced. But how much power does she wield? One complicating factor is the fact that auctions that set the prices do not fall under the governor’s control. Additionally, there are already caps on the profit margins utility companies can earn, so infrastructure improvements may get delayed or scrapped to make up the difference.
To further build out other energy options, Sherrill aims to cut the red tape that often slows down or inhibits clean energy growth whether nuclear, solar, or cleaner natural gas.
In a statement last year about her “Day One Declaration” of the state of emergency, Sherrill said, “Too many people – our utility companies and grid operator, the administration in Trenton, and Donald Trump in Washington — have kicked the can down the road and not been held accountable for their decisions.”
CAN NJ BECOME MORE AFFORDABLE?
Though Princeton has recently pushed through increased affordable housing infrastructure, for years it had pushed back. Similarly, numerous other municipalities did not keep up with the need, leaving New Jersey largely unaffordable for many. As ownership and rental prices rose faster than income levels, and the state experienced an influx in resident population, the affordability problem grew. Though NJ was on a trajectory of affordability concerns before Murphy took office, it was not until 2024 that he signed major affordable housing reform. In 2025, many municipalities started to act on it but have not quite caught up.
When she becomes governor, Sherrill promises to boost construction, especially towards homes for those often referred to as the “missing middle.” She wants to take over abandoned or underused commercial areas and turn them residential and has claimed bottlenecking of approvals and permitting needs to be improved. Sherrill has put together a “Lowering Housing Costs and Expanding Homeownership Action Team” comprised of former government officials with housing experience and housing advocacy leaders. Other housing and community development experts have also been appointed elsewhere on the transition team, expected to advise and bring experience to the table to improve housing affordability across the state.
THE TRANSITION
As Murphy departs and Sherrill takes the reins, she will not only be coming into a new role, but a new form of leadership. As Congresswoman, she was part of a 435-person team charged with legislating. As governor, she will be managing numerous departments and people, be in charge of the budget, and responsible for many immediate and local needs.
“What I’m most curious to see is what Governor Sherrill’s leadership approach is. A lot of the job of governor is dealing with the challenges of the day (which are often unexpected); serving in that chief executive role within the state; creating a relationship with the state legislature; and creating a relationship with the citizens of the state. A lot of that is very individual and Governor Sherrill’s approach will definitely be different from Governor Murphy’s—it will be very interesting to see what approach she takes and how she defines her relationship with the state,” Shields adds.
Will she stick to her ideals? Will she make many immediate changes? Will she be more loyal to her moderate or progressive voting base?
Time will tell, and we’ll begin to learn more come January 20th.
Lisa Jacknow spent years working in national and local news in and around New York City before moving to Princeton. Working as both a TV producer and news reporter, Lisa came to this area to focus on the local news of Mercer County at WZBN-TV. In recent years, she got immersed in the Princeton community by serving leadership roles at local schools in addition to volunteering for other local non-profits. In her free time, Lisa loves to spend time with her family, play tennis, sing and play the piano. A graduate of the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Lisa was raised just north of Boston, Massachusetts but has lived in the tri-state area since college. She is excited to be Editor and head writer for Princeton Perspectives!