Red Bank native will run for Virginia governor, leaving Sherrill in the market for a new roommate

A Red Bank woman is running for Governor of Virginia, and now Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair) needs a new roommate.

Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who spent her earliest years in Monmouth County, announced today that she will not seek re-election to a fourth term in Congress and instead will run for governor in 2025.

Spanberger and Sherrill became friends while they were both trying to flip Republican House seats in 2018.  They were part of a group of newly-elected congresswomen with national security backgrounds that also included Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Elaine Luria of Virginia, and Elissa Slotkin, who is giving up her House seat this year to run for the U.S. Senate in Michigan.

Sherrill, who grew up in Virginia, is considering a run for governor of New Jersey in 2025 – after a run for re-election in New Jersey’s 11th district next year.  That likely means someone will need to replace Spanberger in their D.C. apartment.  Sherrill will need to negotiate the terms of her next lease since her preference will be to move out in January 2026.

It’s fairly common for Members of Congress to live together and split the cost of a second residence.

Chuck Schumer and Dick Durbin shared a Capitol Hill townhouse for years with Rep. George Miller (D-California), and roommates that included Leon Panetta and other Democratic House members.  That led to Amazon creating a sitcom about four senators living together, Alpha House, starring John Goodman.

Another group home became the target of an ethics investigation in 2010 after a group of mostly Republican lawmakers shared a Washington home owned by a religious group known as The Fellowship offered below-market rents for senators and congressmen.