Chatham councilman looking at campaign to succeed Sherrill if she’s elected governor

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair)’s campaign for governor of New Jersey is barely two weeks old, but the hypothetical race to succeed her in the 11th congressional district is already starting to take shape.

Chatham Borough Councilman Justin Strickland, who was a Democratic candidate for Morris County Commissioner this year, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission yesterday for a potential 11th district congressional bid. Strickland said that he’s not properly launching a campaign yet, but that if Sherrill is indeed elected governor in 2025, he wants to be ready.

“I strongly believe that Mikie Sherrill will be the next governor of New Jersey,” he said. “As an Army combat vet, I learned the importance of being prepared. I filed to ensure that I am ready to begin campaigning if, and only if, Congresswoman Sherrill is no longer the representative of CD-11.”

A former U.S. Army captain who served two deployments in Iraq, Strickland was first elected to the borough council in Chatham (population 9,212) in 2023. Soon after taking office, Strickland embarked on a bid for Morris County Commissioner, where he hoped to be one of the first Democrats elected to county office there in 50 years – but he and his Democratic running mates lost 55%-45%, with Strickland coming in fifth out of six candidates.

Strickland is also a very enthusiastic supporter of Sherrill, who flipped the suburban 11th district from Republican control in 2018. He was among the more than 100 local elected officials who endorsed Sherrill five days after she launched her gubernatorial campaign, and he said he has no intention of running against Sherrill in a congressional primary if she doesn’t win the governor’s office.

“Congresswoman Sherrill has been an exceptional advocate for the 11th district, and I am confident the people of New Jersey know she is the best choice to lead us in the years ahead,” Strickland said.

Strickland’s decision to file campaign paperwork so early is likely to cause some head-scratching among New Jersey Democrats, who are mostly laser-focused on 2025 races and will remain that way for many months to come. Morris County Democratic Chair Amalia Duarte, whose county casts a slight majority of the 11th district’s votes, said that she was not expecting Strickland, or anyone, to be talking about a campaign to replace Sherrill just yet.

“I was taken by surprise to see that Justin filed to run for Congress,” Duarte said. “Rep. Sherrill just announced her entry into the governor’s race two weeks ago, so this is extremely early for candidates to make a bid for her seat.”

There’s still a long way to go until any candidate can seriously begin campaigning for Sherrill’s Democratic-leaning seat – or for any of the seats held by 2025 gubernatorial candidates, for that matter. Sherrill faces five serious Democratic opponents in next June’s Democratic primary, and even if she wins that, she’ll then have to beat one of the four (and counting) Republican candidates looking to flip the governor’s office back to their party.

If Sherrill does indeed manage to win both the primary and general election, there’s a long list of candidates who will likely take a look at the 11th district in addition to Strickland, among them Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill (D-Montclair) and a whole host of other ambitious Democrats in Morris, Essex, and Passaic Counties.