Christie Whitman endorses Mikie Sherrill, report says

Former Republican Gov. Christine Todd Whitman has endorsed Democrat Mikie Sherrill for governor, the Philadelphia Inquirer has reported.

Whitman told the Inquirer that “it would be really nice to have another woman.”

“She’s the right person for the job,” Whitman told The Inquirer. “I’ve met with her. She knows how to organize.  She knows how to manage and to lead.”

When she ousted Democratic Gov. Jim Florio in 1993, Whitman became the state’s first woman governor.  Two other women have won gubernatorial primaries but lost general elections: Democrat Barbara Buono in 2013 and Kim Guadagno in 2017.  Whitman backed Gov. Chris Christie against Buono and Guadagno against Democrat Phil Murphy.

Whitman sharply criticized Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who, like Whitman, had served as a Somerset County Freeholder.  The Inquirer reported that  Whitman said Ciattarelli would “bring MAGA in full force” to New Jersey.

“Frankly, Jack has changed from the person I knew decades ago,” she told the newspaper.

Ciattarelli had supported Whitman’s 1990 campaign for U.S. Senate against Democrat Bill Bradley, and attended a 1991 rally to support U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf that was organized by Ciattarelli, then the 27-year-old Raritan Borough Council President.  He endorsed Whitman for the GOP gubernatorial nomination in 1993 and contributed to her campaign.

Whitman now co-chairs the independent Forward Party and endorsed Kamala Harris for President last year.