A trip to New Hampshire by a determined out-of-state politician is rarely viewed as just a trip to New Hampshire, particularly when the visitor is a newly elected governor already generating speculation about her national future.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill will enter that familiar political territory today, traveling through New Hampshire to campaign for two fellow military veterans: Rep. Maggie Goodlander, who is seeking re-election in New Hampshire’s 2nd district; and Maura Sullivan, a candidate for the open House seat in the state’s 1st district.
But first she’ll be in Massachusetts, stumping for an old friend, Rep. Seth Moulton, who is challenging U.S. Sen. Ed Markey in the Democratic primary. Moulton, a former Marine Corps captain who served four tours in Iraq, was an early supporter of Sherrill’s first congressional campaign in 2018 and backed her bid for governor in 2025.
Sherrill has offered no indication that the trip is anything more than a midterm campaign swing for candidates endorsed by Mission to Deliver PAC, her federal political action committee. The PAC and nonprofit raised over $1 million last week and has reportedly raised roughly $7.5 million so far.
But an appearance in New Hampshire inevitably invites scrutiny, and speculation about Sherrill’s national ambitions began almost immediately after she won the New Jersey governorship last year.
Her visit comes just seven months after she took office, considerably earlier in her governorship than Chris Christie’s first trip to New Hampshire.
Christie, who became governor in January 2010, first visited the state as governor in January 2012, nearly two years after taking office. He was not there to promote his own candidacy, but to campaign for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney during the final days before New Hampshire’s Republican presidential primary.
Christie had endorsed Romney in October 2011, one week after announcing that he would not seek the Republican presidential nomination himself. The endorsement followed an intense effort by prominent Republicans and major donors to draft Christie into the race.
On January 8, 2012, Christie joined Romney for a rally at Exeter High School, where the combative New Jersey governor served as an aggressive surrogate against Romney’s Republican rivals. The appearance came two days before Romney won the New Hampshire primary and gave Christie another opportunity to address the activists and national press corps already treating him as a possible future presidential candidate.
Christie returned to New Hampshire repeatedly as he prepared his own 2016 campaign, ultimately making the state central to his presidential strategy. But his initial January 2012 appearance was about helping Romney secure the Republican nomination and demonstrating Christie’s growing value as a national party surrogate.
Sherrill’s immediate predecessor, Phil Murphy, entered a New Hampshire race even earlier in his governorship, although he apparently never traveled there on behalf of his candidate.
Murphy, who took office in January 2018, endorsed Levi Sanders in March 2018, less than three months into his term. Sanders, the son of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, was seeking the Democratic nomination for the open 1st district congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Carol Shea-Porter. Murphy’s endorsement was partly a repayment for Sanders’ help during New Jersey’s 2017 Democratic gubernatorial primary.
Sanders had made five or six trips to New Jersey to campaign with Murphy, who used the appearances to reinforce his progressive credentials and create some distance from his long career at Goldman Sachs. That help was particularly useful because one of Murphy’s chief primary rivals, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, had chaired Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign in New Jersey and was competing for many of the same progressive voters.
Murphy promoted their appearances under the social media hashtag “Phil and Levi” and highlighted their shared support for a state-owned public bank, a $15 minimum wage and organized labor.
When Levi Sanders entered the New Hampshire congressional race, Murphy returned the favor with a March 30, 2018, endorsement praising Sanders’ progressive economic platform and his work helping people navigate federal benefit programs. It was Murphy’s first endorsement in an out-of-state race and immediately attracted notice because it involved New Hampshire.
Sanders ultimately finished seventh in the eleven-candidate September 2018 Democratic primary, receiving less than 2% of the vote. Chris Pappas won the nomination and captured the seat in November.
The distinctions are significant. Christie waited nearly two years before going to New Hampshire, and he traveled there to campaign for the Republican presidential front-runner. Murphy intervened in a New Hampshire congressional primary within three months of taking office but never appears to have crossed the state line for Sanders.
Sherrill is making two in-person campaign appearances in New Hampshire before completing her first year as governor.
Her trip begins in Arlington, Massachusetts, where she will campaign with Moulton from 10 AM until just before noon.
The race presents voters with a generational choice between a 47-year-old congressman and an 80-year-old senator who has served in Congress since 1976.
Moulton has argued that Democrats need a new generation of leaders willing to confront both President Donald Trump and their own party’s political establishment. Markey remains a formidable incumbent with strong support from progressives and organized labor, along with endorsements from U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. The Boston Globe endorsed Moulton yesterday.
Sherrill and Moulton served together in the House for seven years and worked together on the House Armed Services Committee. The New Jersey governor remained neutral in 2020, when Markey defeated Rep. Joseph Kennedy III by ten percentage points in another high-profile Democratic primary.
After the Moulton event, Sherrill will travel to Concord for a 2 PM appearance with Goodlander, a freshman congresswoman seeking a second term in New Hampshire’s politically competitive 2nd district.
Goodlander, a former Navy Reserve intelligence officer, was elected in 2024 with nearly 53% of the vote. Her district includes Nashua and Concord, as well as western and northern New Hampshire.
Before entering Congress, Goodlander worked in the Justice Department and served as a senior White House adviser during the Biden administration. She currently serves on the House Armed Services and Small Business committees. Her grandfather, Samuel Tamposi, was once a part-owner of the Boston Red Sox.
Goodlander faces a challenge from the left in the September 8 Democratic primary from State Rep. Paige Beauchemin. Republicans are targeting the district after coming within six percentage points of winning it two years ago.
Sherrill will finish the day at To Share Brewery in Manchester, where she is scheduled to campaign with Sullivan from 4-6 PM.
Sullivan served as a Marine Corps officer and deployed to Iraq after voluntarily returning to active duty in 2005. She later held senior positions in the Obama administration, including at the Department of Veterans Affairs and as an assistant to the Secretary of Defense for public affairs.
She first ran for the 1st district seat in 2018, finishing second to Pappas in the Democratic primary. Sullivan is running again now that Pappas is giving up the House seat to run for the U.S. Senate.
The open district, which includes Manchester, the Seacoast and much of southeastern New Hampshire, is expected to produce one of the nation’s more competitive House races.
The Democratic field also includes former Portsmouth City Councilor Stefany Shaheen, the daughter of retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a former New Hampshire governor; State Rep. Heath Howard; Hampton Selectwoman Carleigh Beriont; former State Rep. Bill Conlin; Sarah Chadzynski; and Christian Urrutia, an Army National Guard captain.
Beriont is a Jersey girl. She and her husband are both graduates of Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School.
The three appearances mark Sherrill’s first campaign swing since Mission to Deliver announced its initial slate of endorsements earlier this month. The PAC is backing veterans and candidates with national security backgrounds who Sherrill says are prepared to challenge the political status quo and stand up to Trump.
“Each one of these candidates has taken multiple oaths to the U.S. Constitution,” Sherrill said when announcing the endorsements. “They know what it means to serve others and accomplish the mission, whatever it takes.”
Sherrill, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who spent nearly a decade on active duty as a Navy helicopter pilot, made military service central to her political identity. She was elected to Congress in 2018 and was re-elected three times before winning the governorship last year.
Mission to Deliver’s initial slate includes candidates in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia, in addition to the three New England Democrats Sherrill is campaigning with today.
First in the nation?
Sherrill is arriving in New Hampshire just days after the Democratic National Committee approved a 2028 presidential nominating calendar that stripped the state of its official first-in-the-nation position.
Under the calendar approved Saturday, South Carolina would hold the opening Democratic primary on January 22, followed by Nevada on February 1. New Hampshire would vote third on February 8, with New Mexico, Michigan and Virginia completing the party’s early-state window.
The plan places the national party on another collision course with New Hampshire.
State law requires the New Hampshire presidential primary to be held at least seven days before any similar election in another state. The secretary of state has broad authority to select whatever date is necessary to preserve that position, and New Hampshire officials have said they intend to hold the first presidential primaries for both parties.
New Hampshire defied the Democratic calendar in 2024 and conducted its primary before the party-authorized contest in South Carolina. The DNC deemed the election noncompliant, President Joe Biden declined to place his name on the ballot, and his supporters organized a successful write-in campaign.
A similar standoff now looms for 2028: the DNC says New Hampshire will vote after South Carolina and Nevada, while state law directs its secretary of state to leap ahead of both.
The dispute may have complicated New Hampshire’s formal position within the Democratic nominating calendar, but it has done little to diminish the state’s political symbolism or its ability to generate presidential speculation.