New Jersey Woman, Ex-Prosecutor To Challenge Frelinghuysen For Congress

U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen has a new challenger in New Jersey… a former Navy pilot, ex-federal prosecutor and a mother of four. On Thursday, Essex County resident Mikie Sherrill announced her campaign for U.S. Congress in New Jersey’s 11th District, a slot that Frelinghuysen has dominated for decades.

Sherrill - a mother of four young children who coaches her daughter’s lacrosse team and manages her son’s soccer team - said that she is running for Congress to “fight back against Donald Trump and to fight for our future.”

According to a release from her campaign team, Sherrill has some unique qualifications for the job:

• Graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1994; earned law degree from Georgetown University, and a master’s degree in global history from the London School of Economics and Political Science
• Former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot (flew missions “throughout Europe and the Middle East” and “worked on the battle watch floor in the European Theater during the Iraq invasion”)
• Former federal prosecutor (U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey)

Sherrill issued the following statement about her run for Congress on Thursday:

“I have spent most of my life fighting for our country and our values. As a mother, you’d better believe I will continue to fight to ensure our children have a bright future.

“Donald Trump is now threatening everything we hold dear. His impulsive behavior threatens our national security. The way he talks about women threatens not only the progress we have made during my lifetime, but the opportunities I want to ensure for my daughters. And the way he uses fear to divide our country threatens the fabric of who we are as Americans.

“Our congressman, Rodney Frelinghuysen, is voting straight down the line with Donald Trump. After 22 years in Washington, Congressman Frelinghuysen has stopped listening to us – refusing to even meet with constituents – and is putting Donald Trump and the Republican leaders in Congress first.

“I’m running for Congress because we can do better.

“We need to work to create a better future. New Jersey has always been a hotbed of innovation – we have more scientists and engineers per square mile than anywhere else in the country. We need to ensure Americans have access to affordable college, tax reform that supports the middle class, and to decrease wasteful spending to special interests. Repealing the Affordable Care Act and putting the insurance industry back in charge of healthcare would be a disaster. And we can’t allow Rodney Frelinghuysen and Donald Trump to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood.

“We need someone who will listen and fight back. I’m excited to travel this district, reach into our communities and tackle the serious problems our country faces.”

Learn more about Sherrill’s campaign here.

FRELINGHUYSEN: A FORMIDABLE OPPONENT

Sherrill faces a tough political opponent in Frelinghuysen, the Chairman of House Committee on Appropriations, who has run without a serious threat to his post for decades. It’s a lack of challenge that hasn’t escaped the eyes of some New Jersey residents and political pundits.

• See related article: Frelinghuysen Criticized At Essex County Town Hall (VIDEO)
• See related article: Frelinghuysen Votes Yes On Revised Health Care Bill

In 2000, in an attempt to put a spotlight on the lack of challenge to Frelinghuysen’s seat in the House of Representatives, filmmaker Michael Moore spearheaded a now-infamous campaign that ran a ficus plant as a write-in candidate on both the Democrat and Republican Party ballots in New Jersey’s 11th District.

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Photo: Mikie Sherrill For Congress