The USA Today Network and the Bergen Record have endorsed Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) for re-election to a fourth term in New Jersey’s 11th district.
The newspapers said Sherrill has played “a steady hand in an unpredictable congressional landscape that has featured no shortage of drama in Republican control this term.”
“Sherrill continues to impress us with her command of the issues,” the editorial board said. “She has reasonable positions that support women’s and reproductive rights, is squarely focused on affordability, the preservation of traditional American democratic institutions and norms, and is also fiercely concerned with the impacts of social media and technology on our children — and New Jersey’s broader consumption of media.”
The editorial board praised Sherrill’s predecessor, former Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-Harding), as someone “who personified a style of New Jersey Republican politics we continue to mourn.”
The Sherrill endorsement also included a shot at her GOP opponent. Joseph Belnome, “who marched on the Capitol in the Jan. 6 riot in support of former President Donald Trump.” They criticized Belnome for not meeting with their editorial board.
While the endorsement ran in the Daily Record, no one from the Morris County-based newspaper participated in the editorial board meeting. That’s because the Daily Record no longer has a local editorial board and is now down to a staff of two: the venerable William Westhoven, who is essentially a one-man shop for local government coverage, and a sports reporter.
Still, the Gannett-owned newspaper chain appears to be showing some favoritism toward Sherrill in next year’s Democratic gubernatorial primary: they ran their endorsement of her in all of their New Jersey publications, while their endorsement of Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly) ran only in the Bergen Record. Both editorials mentioned their anticipated 2025 statewide candidacies.
The New Jersey Globe has confirmed that the editorial board participants included only Bergen Record staff and didn’t include representatives from the other six newspapers. The panel asking questions of Kim and Bashaw included The Record’s executive editor, Daniel Sforza, opinion director Ed Forbes, assignment editor Albina Sportelli, and columnists Mike Kelly and Charlie Stile. Sherrill’s interview was conducted at the Bergen Record office by NorthJersey.com staff; budget cuts have also eliminated their local editorial board.
Gannett stock prices have dropped by over 76% since they acquired the Bergen Record in 2016.