Democrat and former Congresswoman, Mikie Sherrill, has been sworn in as New Jersey’s 57th Governor on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 with her first action being the signing of two executive orders declaring state of emergency on utility rates aimed at addressing high energy costs, in the short and long terms.
Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter Pilot and erstwhile federal prosecutor, who succeeds Governor Phil Murphy, also used the opportunity of the inauguration ceremony, which took place at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, to throw jabs at President Donald Trump and some of the policies and actions of his administration.
She said, for instance, that “We see a president illegally usurping power, unconstitutionally enacting a tariff regime to make billions for himself and his family while everyone else sees their costs go higher,” stressing that “Here we demand people in public service actually serve the public.”
She assured that New Jersey, under her watch, would not be intimidated, and spoke of a focus on liberty and prosperity for residents of the state in her inaugural speech which was well received by an enthusiastic crowd of supporters who gave her intermittent standing ovations.
It is believed that the new Governor chose the historic City of Newark not just because of its key role in the America’s history, as she said in her speech, but also because of the crucial part that voters, mostly immigrants, played in ensuring her historic victory at the polls. Newark is the largest, most populated City in New Jersey.
Sherrill, who was accompanied to the inauguration by her husband and children, becomes the first female Democrat to be sworn in as Governor of New Jersey and the second female Governor of the Garden State, the first being Christine Todd Whitman, a Republican.
