Democrat Mikie Sherrill sworn in as New Jersey governor with defiant tone against Trump

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Mikie Sherrill, the four-term congresswoman and former Navy helicopter pilot who cast her November election in New Jersey as a victory over President Donald Trump’s vision for the country, was inaugurated Tuesday as the state’s 57th governor.

Sherrill, 54, is just the second woman to lead the state of nearly 9.5 million people. She succeeds Phil Murphy, a fellow Democrat who was elected twice, marking the first time in more than six decades a political party has controlled the New Jersey governor’s office for three straight terms.

She swept to victory over her Trump-endorsed GOP rival in part by pinning blame for high costs on the president’s tariffs and promising that her first action once in office would be to order a freeze on skyrocketing utility rates.

Sherrill spoke about New Jersey’s role in the Revolutionary War and quoted from the Declaration of Independence’s grievances against the king, drawing a comparison to Trump.

“We see a president illegally usurping power,” she said. “He has unconstitutionally enacted a tariff regime to make billions for himself and his family, while everyone else sees costs go higher and higher. Here, we demand people in public service actually serve the public.”

She adopted a defiant tone against the Trump administration, saying the state would not remain quiet in the face of communities living in fear of the president’s immigration crackdown.

“These are some weary years,” she said. “But I’ll be damned if in this state, at this time, we cry any silent tears.”

A message seeking a response was sent to the White House.

During her speech she also signed two executive orders, one declaring a freeze on utility rates, which have been rising sharply, and another aimed at establishing new sources of electricity production including solar and nuclear.

Sherrill took the oath of office on a copy of the Constitution owned by the state’s first governor in Newark, the state’s largest city whose voters made up a key component of her winning coalition.

It is a departure from previous inaugurations, which have included military artillery salutes along the Delaware River outside the statehouse in Trenton. Tuesday’s ceremony included a similar gun salute and a military helicopter flyover.

She is being sworn in as her former congressional colleague Abigail Spanberger comes into office in as Virginia’s governor after a similar double-digit victory over her Republican opponent and as the midterm elections start to come into sharper focus. Democrats are hopeful the president will be a drag on GOP candidates in key races across the country.

Sherrill takes over from Murphy, a former Obama administration ambassador and Wall Street finance executive, who delivered on a number of progressive promises over eight years, including raising taxes on income over $1 million, boosting the minimum wage, expanding early childhood education and fully funding the state workers’ pension, which was underfunded for years before he took over.

Murphy said Friday in his final news conference that he has been in regular touch with Sherrill about the transition. He summed up his two terms as governor as having lived up to promises he made on the campaign trail.

“We were who we said would be,” Murphy said. “We didn’t campaign on my thesis and pull a fast one.”

He is also passing along a state budget that has swelled over the years, raising the prospect of potential shortfalls if state revenues dip as well as an unfunded promise to continue a property tax relief program begun in the governor’s second term.

Sherrill will have a Democrat-led Legislature to work with, one of more than a dozen where the party controls the legislature and governorship.

The first woman to be governor of New Jersey is Christine Todd Whitman, a two-term Republican who went on to serve as George W. Bush’s Environmental Protection Agency administrator.

New Jersey’s governorship has often switched back and forth between the parties. The last time the same party prevailed in a third straight gubernatorial election was in 1961.