New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill is taking sides in a hotly contested Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts, endorsing Rep. Seth Moulton over incumbent Sen. Ed Markey.
The endorsement is part of the first slate released by Mission to Deliver PAC, Sherrill’s political action committee, which is supporting twelve military veterans running for the House in competitive races across the country.
Sherrill also announced that she plans to campaign outside New Jersey ahead of the November midterm elections, offering one of the clearest signs yet that the first-year governor intends to become a player in national Democratic politics.
In addition to Moulton, Sherrill is endorsing JoAnna Mendoza in Arizona’s 6th district; Eileen Laubacher and Jessica Killin in Colorado’s 4th and 5th districts; Bale Dalton in Florida’s 7th district; Zach Dembo in Kentucky’s 6th district; Rep. Don Davis in North Carolina’s 1st district; Maura Sullivan and Rep. Maggie Goodlander in New Hampshire’s 1st and 2nd districts; Cait Conley in New York’s 17th district; Nancy Lacore in South Carolina’s 1st district; and her longtime friend, former Rep. Elaine Luria. in Virginia’s 2nd district.
Sherrill is also backing former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett, the Democratic nominee against two-term Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) in New Jersey’s 7th district. Sherrill endorsed Bennett shortly after she won the Democratic primary.
“Each one of these candidates has taken multiple oaths to the U.S. Constitution,” Sherrill said. “They know what it means to serve others and accomplish the mission, whatever it takes.”
Sherrill said veterans elected to Congress are “dedicated public servants who are trained to run towards the fight and are unafraid to take on the status quo.”
“They will stand up to a president who ran away from service, who sends our troops into harm’s way for a war he shouldn’t have gotten into and can’t get out of, and drives up costs for the American people while he uses public office to enrich himself, his family, and his cronies,” she said.
Her support for Moulton is rooted in a long political and personal alliance.
Sherrill and Moulton served together in the House for seven years and were members of the House Armed Services Committee. A former Marine Corps captain who served four tours in Iraq, Moulton was an early supporter of Sherrill’s first congressional campaign in 2018 and backed her bid for governor in 2025.
Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot who spent nearly a decade on active duty, and Moulton became part of a group of service-oriented moderates elected to the House during the Trump era. That group also included Abigail Spanberger, now the governor of Virginia; Colorado Rep. Jason Crow, and Elissa Slotkin, now a U.S. Senator from Michigan.
They were aligned with the New Democrat Coalition and often worked together on national security, defense, and government reform issues.
Sherrill’s stayed neutral in 2020 when Markey faced another competitive primary challenge from one of her House colleagues, Rep. Joseph Kennedy III. Markey defeated Kennedy by ten points.
Her endorsement of a fellow moderate challenging an octogenarian progressive lion runs counter to the prevailing direction of many Democratic primaries, where voters have increasingly embraced candidates firmly on the left. That trend was on display again in Tuesday’s Michigan U.S. Senate primary, where Abdul El-Sayed narrowly defeated another onetime Sherrill House colleague, Rep. Hayley Stevens.
This time, Markey faces a serious challenge from Moulton in the September 1 Democratic primary. A University of New Hampshire poll released June 30 showed Markey leading Moulton by six points, 41% to 35%, with nearly one-quarter of likely Democratic primary voters undecided.
The 80-year-old Markey, who has served in Congress since 1976, has the backing of Bernie Sanders and his Massachusetts Senate colleague, Elizabeth Warren. Gov. Maura Healey is staying out of the race; Moulton, 47, supports a constitutional amendment to set age limits for members of the House and Senate.
Mission to Deliver PAC had slightly more than $1 million cash on hand as of June 30, giving Sherrill a well-funded vehicle to contribute to candidates, travel to battleground states and raise her national profile during her first year as governor. Her non-profit, Mission to Deliver, raised over $5.5 million.
Her previous federal PAC, One Giant Leap, contributed to Slotkin’s successful U.S. Senate campaign and to Pennsylvania Rep. Susan Wild’s unsuccessful re-election bid in 2024. Another federal PAC, Gateway to Leadership, gave money to federal and state candidates.
New Jersey governors with national ambitions waited until their second term to begin raising money for candidates in other states.
In May 2015, Chris Christie launched Leadership Matters for America PAC and donated roughly $100,000. He chaired the Republican Governors Association from 2013 to 2014 and used that role to raise money and build national relationships.
Phil Murphy served as the Democratic Governors Association chairman twice, in 2020 and again in 2023.
Murphy launched his national political action committee — Stronger Fairer Forward PAC — in February 2022, just weeks into his second term. The PAC contributed over $300,000 to campaigns in President Joe Biden’s midterm cycle. During a period when it was uncertain if Biden would seek a second term, Murphy and aides had mulled a bid for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination.