New Jersey’s first female governor, Christine Todd Whitman, wants Democrat Mikie Sherrill to be the next one
Whitman, a former Republican governor who has left the party, endorsed Sherrill the day after the New Jersey primary.
Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican New Jersey governor, said Wednesday that she is pulling for U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee in the race to succeed Gov. Phil Murphy.
Whitman, who broke ground as a Republican, running the state from 1994 to 2001, now cochairs the Forward Party, a new national political party, with former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang. She has described it as a party for the “politically homeless,” particularly for moderate Republicans who feel alienated by President Donald Trump.
“She’s the right person for the job,” Whitman said of Sherrill in an interview with The Inquirer. “I’ve met with her. She knows how to organize. She knows how to manage and to lead. … Beyond that, it would be really nice to have another woman.”
Whitman had stayed out of the primary, but her endorsement of the Democrat is not all that unexpected. She campaigned for Vice President Kamala Harris last year at Republicans for Harris events in Pennsylvania.
Her support underscores how the Republican Party in New Jersey has shifted to the right along with the national party under Trump.
GOP nominee Jack Ciattarelli won every county in the state, in a commanding victory aided by Trump’s endorsement. Ciattarelli, a third-time candidate, had been critical of Trump in the past but embraced him this year and benefited from the party leader’s backing.
Whitman said Ciattarelli would “bring MAGA in full force” to New Jersey. “Frankly, Jack has changed from the person I knew decades ago,” she said.
Gov. Chris Christie, the Republican governor of the state from 2010 to 2018, who has been sharply critical of Trump after being a onetime ally, became an attack line during the GOP primary, with candidates aiming to distance themselves. Christie did not formally endorse a candidate in the primary and has clashed with Ciattarelli in the past.
Whitman said she is hopeful that the state will elect its second female governor come November with Sherrill as the candidate and a Democratic voter registration advantage.
“Anybody can have a shot — it all comes down to who gets out,” she said. “I think New Jersey is showing it’s a pretty smart state and we understand that women can do these jobs.”