The Democratic candidate running for Congress in New Jersey’s 11th district was visiting with party officials in Washington early in her campaign. She had just raised more money than the incumbent, which was surprising, given he’s the chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.
“Well, look at that, who says you can’t run a woman in Jersey,” a Democratic Party official told the candidate, Mikie Sherrill.
“And I said, ‘Who does say that? Because I want to go talk to him,’” Sherrill replied. “’I want to have a word.’” And then Sherrill broke into a hearty laugh.
New Jersey has one woman and 13 men in its Congressional delegation. And Sherrill wants to change that. She’s a Democrat in a swing district that has been represented by a Republican since 1984, but she’s got the right resume for New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District. It’s largely suburban; Trump won the district by less than a point; and it covers a large swath of bedroom communities west of Newark.
Sherrill is a former Navy helicopter pilot who trained at Annapolis. She graduated from Georgetown Law School, worked in Navy intelligence on Russia and learned Arabic. She then worked in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark as a federal prosecutor. She lives in Montclair, N.J., with her husband and four kids.
If all that doesn’t project enough toughness — there’s her name. Rebecca Michelle Sherrill goes by Mikie (pronounced Mike-y)
“When I was about two, my dad said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if we called you Mikie?’ from my middle name, Michelle,” Sherrill said. “And my mom said, ‘No.’ I said, ‘Yes.’ And I guess decided I would not answer to anything except Mikie.”
The gender politics of this moment are inescapable. Candidates like Mikie Sherrill are walking a tightrope between the positive attributes of masculinity — strong, a leader, a fighter — and still being feminine.
“Mikie Cheryl is attractive and she does great ads,” said former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, who was the first and only woman to be elected governor of New Jersey. Whitman is a Republican who is critical of Trump and the right wing of her party.
“She is really out there working hard. And right now, with the gap that Republicans have amongst women — which is extraordinary, it’s a chasm, not a gap anymore — it’s going to be a hard thing [for her opponent] to overcome.”
Suburban districts like the NJ 11th are changing, along with the rest of the country. More women are graduating from college, working outside the home in professional careers. The Midtown Direct train service — the improved one-seat ride to Manhattan — has brought more Democratic voters from New York to live in these suburbs. And the rightward shift of the Republican…
