The congressional race in New Jersey’s 11th District will be one to watch as candidates battle to see if the GOP will remain in control.
Democrat Mikie Sherrill is looking to fill retiring Republican Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen’s seat in the United States House of Representatives. , Frelinghuysen has served since 1995.
Sherrill won in the state primary earlier this week and says that she thinks she can beat Republican Assemblyman Jay Webber.
“The question was, ‘Are these newly engaged voters going to make it to the polls?’ And they did in incredible numbers and so it was really wonderful,” she says.
Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot and federal prosecutor, says that she was inspired to run for Congress because she is frustrated that Rep. Frelinghuysen wouldn’t hold any town hall meetings. She says that she is also feels that her values are under attack by the Trump administration.
“To see POWs and Gold Star families treated the way many of them were treated during the [2016] election was incredibly troubling to me,” she says.
Sherrill and Webber both say that the economy is the biggest concern of District 11.
Webber says that voters want to see more jobs in an economy that is already booming thanks to President Donald Trump. But Sherrill says that the federal tax plan and threat to “Obamacare” have hurt the district, along with Webber’s support of the policies.
“He always put his own personal agenda before the agenda of the people of New Jersey and so we saw him support the tax bill, which is bad for New Jersey. It’s really worse for New Jersey than any state in the nation,” Sherrill says.
Seton Hall political professor Matt Hale says that the race in District 11 is one of many Democratic battles playing out across the country.
“We’ll see other races where it’s progressive versus moderate and a bunch of different machinations, but in the 11th, it’s a centrist Democrat versus a conservative Republican,” Hale says.