Clarksboro, NJ – As Election Day nears, Democrat Mikie Sherrill is starting to sound more like her Republican opponent, Jack Ciattarelli. Realizing her grassroots pro-Progressive policy campaign was faltering, Sherrill is trying to reinvent herself as a moderate Democrat, filled with reason and common sense.
Those who have been following know it’s all a ruse to save a campaign that is falling in the polls, while her opponent, Jack Ciattarelli begins to surge with his own common sense campaign messaging.
On Thursday, Mike Sherrill made a sharp pivot from party lines during a campaign stop in Gloucester County, declaring that if elected governor, she will undo a wave of policies she says have been crushing New Jersey’s small businesses—many of them enacted by fellow Democrats.
It was the same message delivered by current governor, Phil Murphy, promised nine years ago. Instead, Democrats have made the problems worse by legislating small businesses out of business, compounded by a nearly two-year freeze on these businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On social media, Sherrill is playing the hardball Democrat who, like her opponent Jack Ciattarelli are blaming her own party for the mess they created in New Jersey.
Speaking at the Death of the Fox Brewery in Clarksboro as part of her “Save You Time & Money” small business tour, Sherrill stood alongside local business owner Chuck Garrity, who said he was forced to shut down after years of the Democrats’ stronghold on New Jersey businesses, battling rising costs, regulatory delays, and a labyrinth of paperwork. Sherrill used the moment to signal a break from the Democratic establishment, including Governor Phil Murphy and the current legislature, pledging to simplify the process of owning and operating a small business in New Jersey.
It’s clear she’s trying to redefine herself. The “I’m a pilot” narrative isn’t working. Sherrill is now campaigning on “I’m not Phil Murpy and I’m not the New Jersey Democrats” hoping to distance herself from her own party’s failures in the Garden State.
“I’ve heard too many stories like Chuck’s,” Sherrill said, referencing what Garrity called “death by a thousand paper cuts.” The former federal prosecutor and current congresswoman criticized the state’s business climate, highlighting excessive registration fees, outdated systems, and slow-moving state agencies as key culprits and policies enacted by Democrats in the state assembly and senate.
Sherrill pledged to overhaul the state’s business infrastructure, promising to modernize digital services, reduce wait times, and eliminate duplicative regulations. Her remarks were aimed at wooing independent voters and moderate Democrats increasingly frustrated with Murphy-era policies, by hoping they don’t realize her own party and her own actions in Congress have led to the current reality for small businesses across the state.
The campaign stop comes as small business closures continue to climb across New Jersey. Data from the National Federation of Independent Business show that the state ranks among the worst for regulatory burdens and administrative delays. Sherrill says this red tape is stifling entrepreneurship and driving new ventures out of state.
Red tape, similar to red tape legislation she has endorsed since being elected to Congress.
While Sherrill did not lay out a detailed legislative plan, she committed to pushing for what she called “real-time licensing reform,” integrated digital systems across departments, and a dedicated office for small business advocacy.