U.S. Naval Academy graduate, Navy helicopter pilot, former federal prosecutor, wife, and mother of four kids – Mikie Sherrill proudly serves New Jersey in Congress and is running for governor to make life easier and more affordable for Garden State families. Her career has been defined by service to her country and New Jersey.
Mikie was inspired to join the military by her grandfather, a World War II veteran.
From a young age, she knew she wanted to fly and do big things. After graduating from the Naval Academy in 1994 – the first class of women eligible for combat roles on ships and aircraft – Mikie spent almost 10 years on active duty in the United States Navy. As a Sea King Helicopter pilot, she led missions throughout Europe and the Middle East. She worked on the Battle Watch Floor in the European Theater during the Iraq War, served as a Flag Aide to the Deputy Commander of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, and was a Russian policy officer aiding in the implementation of our nuclear treaty obligations and oversaw the relationship between the U.S. Navy and Russian Federation Navy.
Following her service in the Navy, Mikie attended and graduated from law school.
She worked in private practice and then joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey. As an Outreach and Reentry Coordinator, Mikie established programs to develop trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve and helped people leaving prison to gain employment, housing, and education to restart their lives. Then as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, she prosecuted federal cases to keep our communities safe and worked to take illegal guns off the streets of New Jersey.
After Donald Trump was first elected, Mikie knew she had to do something to stand up for New Jersey, her country, and the values she swore an oath to defend in the Navy.
In her first-ever run for office, she led a grassroots movement and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018 to represent New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District. Her campaign – where she drove an entrenched Republican incumbent out of the race – marked the biggest swing from red to blue in the country that year.
As a mother raising four children, Mikie is a strong voice in Congress for New Jersey’s families.
Mikie is working hard to bring down costs for families – whether it’s grocery prices, child care, or Trump’s SALT cap that punished New Jersey families. After constant roadblocks from the Christie and Trump administrations, Mikie helped deliver New Jersey’s fair share of federal funding on the Gateway Tunnel Project – the single-largest infrastructure project in American history, which will create good-paying union jobs and reduce commute times for families. She is fighting for reproductive freedom, defending abortion rights, as well as access to contraception and IVF. She sits on the House Armed Services Committee and the new House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
Mikie holds a Bachelor’s degree from the United States Naval Academy, a Master’s degree in Global History from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a law degree from Georgetown University.