New Jersey Politics

Mikie Sherrill was sworn in today as governor of New Jersey, officially assuming the office following an inauguration ceremony. She becomes the first woman from the Democratic Party to hold the state’s governorship as she begins leading the Garden State.

Tiffany Burress, an attorney and wife of former New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress, has announced a Republican campaign for a North Jersey U.S. House district that has been in Democratic hands since 1981. Burress, a Pittsburgh‑born lawyer recognized as a top Bergen County attorney and a former Penn State athlete, is challenging Democratic Rep. Nellie Pou, who won the seat in 2024 after the death of longtime Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. In her launch, she attacked Pou for spending 'fifty years on the government dime' and linked the incumbent’s voting record to that of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio‑Cortez, while casting her own background as 'busting through' doors in the private sector and saying she would also challenge Republicans when she believes they are wrong. The district, which includes the Giants’ MetLife Stadium, Paterson and diverse southern Bergen County suburbs, unexpectedly flipped to Donald Trump in 2024 as Pou survived by only four points in a seat once considered safely blue, with analysts crediting Trump’s gains among Hispanic and Jewish voters. That narrow margin, coupled with current anger toward Trump among Muslim voters in Paterson, sets up a volatile 2026 contest in a district both parties once treated as an afterthought.