Barack Obama endorses Mikie Sherrill for New Jersey governor
President Donald Trump has endorsed Sherrill's Republican opponent, Jack Ciattarelli.
Former President Barack Obama endorsed U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee for New Jersey governor, who is locked in a tight race with Republican Jack Ciattarelli.
Obama’s announcement just weeks ahead of the Nov. 4 election came in the form of an ad paid for by Sherrill’s campaign that Sherrill shared on X Friday morning.
“Mikie is a mom who will drive down costs for New Jersey families,” Obama said in the ad, echoing her campaign’s core message. “As a federal prosecutor and former Navy helicopter pilot, she worked to keep our communities safe.”
“Mikie’s integrity, grit, and commitment to service are what we need right now in our leaders,” he adds.
Sherrill maintains a single-digit lead in polls over Ciattarelli, a former Assembly member who also ran for governor in 2017 and 2021 and has the endorsement of President Donald Trump.
In a statement, Sherrill praised Obama for leading “historic efforts to lower healthcare costs” and criticized Ciattarelli for defending cuts to Medicaid in Trump’s “big beautiful bill.”
“There’s so much at stake in this election, so President Obama and I are mobilizing New Jerseyans to make a plan to vote on or before November 4,” Sherrill added.
The race has been tightening, with each candidate solidifying their bases.
New Jersey is only one of two states with a race for governor this year, along with Virginia, and national money has been flowing into the race.
Sherrill last week appeared in South Jersey last week with Sens. Cory Booker (D., N.J.) and Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) and in her hometown of Montclair with former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, an Arizona Democrat. She will appear in this weekend with Maryland Gov. Wes Moore.
Ciattarelli appeared on Wednesday with Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who co-founded Trump’s DOGE and who appeared at a GOP summit in Atlantic City earlier this year to garner enthusiasm ahead of the gubernatorial primary.
Trump does not currently have plans to appear in the state with Ciattarelli, Axios reported. While New Jersey shifted more in support of Trump in 2024 he still lost the state by 6 percentage points.
The president held a tele-rally ahead of the primary after Ciattarelli pocketed his endorsement in May. Trump is planning to host more of these, Axios reported.
An earlier version of this story misidentified Vivek Ramaswamy’s position. He is a candidate for Ohio governor.