The News
Reps. Josh Gottheimer and Mikie Sherrill announced their bids for New Jersey governor within three days of each other. Most of their fellow Garden State lawmakers are backing other candidates.
It’s not unusual for House members to try to ditch Congress for a higher-profile state-level seat. But in New Jersey, where the politicians who aren’t related by blood have deep political ties to each other, primaries like this year’s Democratic gubernatorial one can get awkward.
“I love all my children,” Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J., told Semafor. “I just love Steve a little bit more,” he added of Stephen Sweeney, his childhood friend who entered the race in late 2023.
With only two months before the June 10 primary, Gottheimer and Sherrill — both lawyers in their fifties who embody a similar centrist brand and happen to share a congressional border — have only clinched endorsements from one out of nine other members in their delegation. And New Jersey isn’t the only state whose lawmakers are facing tough internal dynamics lately, as Democrats wander in the political wilderness and Republicans face pressure to act faster on the Trump administration’s lofty ambitions.
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik’s nomination as President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations was abruptly scrapped on Thursday after Trump declared, “It is essential that we maintain EVERY Republican seat in Congress,” hinting at worries over special elections. Stefanik now has to slink back into Congress and rehire staff who had departed for other jobs or had left to work with her at the UN.
In addition, Tennessee Republicans could soon confront a New Jersey-style internal rivalry. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., is expected to announce a bid for governor that would pit her against her House colleague, GOP Rep. John Rose. Rose has already launched his campaign to replace term-limited Gov. Bill Lee.
“It’s always awkward,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told Semafor of the home-state faceoff. “But then, stay out of politics if you don’t want to be awkward.”
Gottheimer and Sherrill are vying for the Democratic nomination to replace term-limited New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy against two mayors, Ras Baraka of Newark and Steven Fulop of Jersey City. Along with former state Senate president Sweeney and teachers union president Sean Spiller, they submitted petitions ahead of this month’s filing deadline.
That crowded field of influential Jersey Democrats is challenging the state’s House members to pick sides beyond the Gottheimer-Sherrill rivalry.
First-term Rep. Herb Conoway also backed Sweeney, who lost his state Senate seat to a MAGA-friendly truck driver in 2021. Rep. Frank Pallone became the sole Democrat in the delegation to back a House colleague last month when he endorsed Sherrill. And Baraka has the support of Reps. LaMonica McIver and Bonnie Watson Coleman.
Coleman endorsed Baraka before either of her House colleagues entered the race. She told Semafor that she and Sherrill “had a conversation” months before the latter joined the race, adding that Sherrill “understood then that I was supporting Ras.”
Sherrill’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
That leaves four uncommitted colleagues — including New Jersey’s two senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, who Semafor is told won’t be weighing in on the primary. On the House side, New Jersey Reps. Rob Menendez and Nellie Pou have avoided endorsements for governor as they weigh deciding between multiple allies in the race.
Menendez is saddled with choosing between his House colleagues and his home-base mayor, Baraka. Pou served under Sweeney in the state legislature, was a constituent of Sherrill’s, and said Gottheimer was “extremely supportive” when she became a member of Congress.
“It is awkward!” Pou said. “It’s awkward for me because I have relationships and friendships with them, and I don’t want to have to pick between one child and my second child.”
Know More
The competition for a boost from their colleagues isn’t just inside-the-Beltway business for Sherrill and Gottheimer. They both lag in name recognition, according to polling conducted by Fairleigh Dickinson University; that makes any endorsement a helpful way to generate earned media and the attention that results, especially from Hispanic and Latino voters.
As the delegation’s two Latino members, Menendez and Pou could help sway the 20% of Hispanic and Latino voters in the state — something Pou acknowledged.
“Latinos are a very important vote. It’s a major vote in New Jersey, and it certainly can make a world of a difference,” she told Semafor.
Meanwhile, in Tennessee, Blackburn is polling as the gubernatorial frontrunner even before officially announcing her candidacy. And her colleagues are already anticipating the tension that comes with playing favorites.
Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., is taking a familiar approach: “You just stay out of it completely. That’s how you solve that problem.”
The View From Republicans
Trump made gains in New Jersey in November, losing to Kamala Harris by 5.91% in a state once considered solidly blue. That’s fuelling a robust Republican gubernatorial primary that drew 11 candidates.
But New Jersey state assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli and former radio host Bill Spadea are undeniably the top two. Trump met with both men earlier this month at his Bedminster golf club.
“I think we have a shot,” Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said.
Ciattarelli appears to have lost one potential House endorsement: His campaign had to cancel an appearance from Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who’d been advertised to headline a fundraiser for the candidate.
Mace told Semafor there “was a bait and switch” to get her to the event under false pretenses, saying the Ciattarelli camp had promised to give her an award.
“I’ve never met the guy,” she said. “I don’t know who the f**k he is.”
Kadia’s view
The lack of New Jersey delegation support for Gottheimer is particularly striking. He’s grabbed headlines for his central role in blue-state lawmakers’ push to raise the cap on the state and local tax deduction and for his chairmanship of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.
But none of his colleagues have endorsed him, and he’s slumping in local polls.
Still, I wouldn’t count him out completely. He has raised significant money, and Gottheimer-aligned PACs have been blitzing New York and New Jersey airwaves all month. Unlike Sherrill, he also got the endorsement of local Hispanic leaders even before jumping into the race.
I’m also keeping an eye on signs of gamesmanship between the two House-based candidates. Sherrill submitted, then withdrew, a request to the Federal Election Commission to weigh in on how much federal cash members can transfer directly to statewide campaigns. It was perceived as a jab at Gottheimer, a prolific fundraiser.
Room for Disagreement
It’s questionable how much electoral impact a handful of House endorsements has in major primaries. Just ask the few lawmakers who risked Trump’s wrath by endorsing his rivals in the 2024 GOP primary.
Among those downplaying the ultimate value of congressional supporters in New Jersey is Gottheimer himself.
“I have wonderful colleagues in Congress, and I’m grateful that some of them are supporting me,” he said in a statement. “But, my real focus is, and will continue to be, on New Jersey voters — and their endorsement at the ballot box on June 10.”
Notable
- Ed Durr — the Republican trucker who bested Sweeney in a state Senate race last year, in one of the state’s biggest upsets — is ending his bid for governor, Politico reported.