Gov. Mikie Sherrill and her family are moving farther south to Princeton
She will be the third governor to live there since the Civil War, and the first who isn’t named Jim.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill is moving farther south, shaving off her commute time to Trenton. That also means she’ll be closer to South Jersey, where she’s promised to have a presence.
Sherrill, a Democrat who began her term in January, announced Friday that her family will pack their bags this summer to move south from Montclair in the New York City suburbs to Princeton. They will live full time at Drumthwacket, the official governor’s mansion, after Sherrill previously indicated her family would remain up north.
Only two governors have lived full-time in the residence in Princeton since it was recognized as the governor’s mansion in 1981, and both of them were Democrats who went by Jim.
Gov. James Florio, the last South Jerseyan elected to lead the state in 1989, was the first governor to move into the Princeton mansion after Republican Gov. Thomas Kean declined to move there. Years later, Gov. James McGreevey moved to the residence from his Middlesex Home. He served from 2002 to 2004 before resigning amid scandal.
“Our family looks forward to this exciting next chapter, and we thank the dedicated New Jersey state staff and the team at the Drumthwacket Foundation for all their work to truly make the residence a home,” Sherrill said in a joint statement with first gentleman Jason Hedberg. The Drumthwacket Foundation is a nonprofit that preserves the property and holds events like school field trips and public tours at the site.
Sherrill and Hedberg, both Navy veterans, have four children. Two are school-aged and two are in their first year at the Naval Academy. In November, Sherrill said she would stay in Essex County because she has kids in school.
Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, said the commute from Montclair to Trenton could have been more “grueling” than expected.
“It’s a long way from Montclair ... when we heard that we all thought boy, that’s going to be a haul,” he said.
Sherrill will be shaving about an hour off her commute to the State House. Her Montclair residence is between 65 and 75 miles from the State House, depending on the route. Drumthwacket is just 12 miles away.
Sherrill’s new home will also shorten her commute when she makes visits to South Jersey, a region where she’s made an effort to show up since the campaign . The mansion is just 40 miles from Cherry Hill.
Rasmussen said the property has “been upgraded over the years to include everything the state police needs to protect the first family.” Sherrill spokesperson Steve Sigmund confirmed that Drumthwacket already has state troopers and 24-7 security.
Sherrill made some waves by deciding to break tradition by getting inaugurated in Newark instead of Trenton, and she’s also signed bills in the North Jersey city. She said in the joint statement on Friday that this move can strengthen the her commitment to working with legislators in the state’s Capitol.
She presented her budget proposal to state legislators last month and will be in high pressure negotiations with both chambers in the coming months.
“From Day One this administration has committed to getting to work in Trenton to deliver on our commitments,” Sherrill said in her statement with her husband. “We’re thrilled to further strengthen that commitment by living full time in the Governor’s official residence and being much closer to the Capital City and the State House.”
Sigmund declined to share whether Sherrill’s family will keep their Montclair home or whether her family will foot utilities or other expenses related to living at the property.
“All that’s to come, we just wanted to make sure people knew this was the first family’s plan,” he said.
Former Gov. Phil Murphy and former first lady Tammy Murphy used the mansion to host social gatherings and other events.
Gov. Jon Corzine, a Democrat who served from 2006 to 2010, lived at the mansion temporarily as he recovered from a Garden State Parkway accident, said Robyn Brenner, the executive director of the Drumthwacket Foundation.
The state bought Drumthwacket in 1966 for the purpose of making it the governor’s mansion but it wasn’t until 1981 that it was recognized as such because it was in need of repairs, according to the foundation.
The very first governor to live in the mansion was former Gov. Charles Smith Olden, who was born on the same land the mansion now occupies, which had once been owned by Pennsylvania founder William Penn. Olden, who was governor from 1860–1863, built the original Drumthwacket more than a century before it became state property.