Mikie Sherrill skips majority of House votes amid tough NJ gubernatorial race

Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., received the most lost votes of any House lawmaker by a wide margin as she launches an aggravated bid to become New Jersey The next ruler.

Sherrill has been unable to participate in 145 House votes since the start of the 119th Congress on January 3, representing 53% of the measures before the House.

The next closest member, Donald Norcross, D-N.J., missed 83 votes.

Democrat Mikie Sherrill participates in the final debate for governor of New Jersey with Republican Jack Ciattarelli in New Brunswick, New Jersey, October 8, 2025. (Heather Khalifa/AP Photo)

His record of absence stands out — even when pitted against other candidates who have pursued statewide office in recent years.

When asked about this record, Sean Higgins, communications director for Sherrill’s campaign, said the congresswoman works to represent the state wherever possible.

“Mickey Sherrill fights every day for New Jersey on critical issues, like the Gateway Tunnel project, which Trump killed and said would be dead,” Higgins said. Freezing billions of dollars Designated for infrastructure projects in urban centers across the country.

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Although Sherrill’s large number of missed votes is not unprecedented, it stands out as one of the only examples in recent years when an incumbent House member conspicuously dropped his participation in the chamber amid heightened scrutiny in a competitive bid for statewide office.

For Matthew Green, director of graduate studies at The Catholic University of America, this signals a surprisingly close race — in a state that has voted solidly blue in years past.

“Certainly this suggests the race is close enough that Sherrill should spend as much time as possible in New Jersey and that could lead to her losing votes in Washington. It’s not uncommon for votes to miss. But if you do it too often, your opponent could say, ‘Oh, you’re not doing the job you’re doing now, so why should voters trust you with a new job?'” Green said. “But you are doing You campaign only once. “I would see candidates saying, ‘I can miss a lot of votes, and that won’t hurt me when I run for president.'”

according to Poll conducted by Fox News Last week, Sherrill narrowly led Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli by four points, 48%-44%, among registered voters. Its lead has shrunk over the past few months, after it was seven points ahead of its rival just one month ago in September.

Republican Jack Ciattarelli responds to questions during the first general election gubernatorial debate with Democratic opponent Mikie Sherrill on September 21, 2025, in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. (Noah K. Murray/AP Photo)

Chris Russell, Ciattarelli’s campaign strategist, noted that Sherrill’s absence has become more acute as the November election approaches. He pointed out that Sherrill missed 87% of the votes in the past three months, after participating in only eight out of 63 votes in that window.

“She ran for re-election to Congress in 2024 knowing full well that she did not intend to do her job. When she showed up, the two most important votes she cast were raising taxes on workers and shutting down the government,” Russell said. “For Cheryl to lose nearly 90% of the votes she was supposed to cast over the past three months is shameful.”

Sherrill joined her fellow Democrats in voting against Short-term spending package last month and Donald Trump’s tax and border security package in July.

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In the years since the elimination of proxy voting in 2023 that was implemented to accommodate the COVID-19 pandemic, only one House member running for statewide election has missed a similar number of votes as Sherrill.

Senator Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, who is running for the Senate in 2024, only participated with 52% of the Senate votes. But unlike the New Jersey lawmaker, Schiff enjoyed a dominant lead over his opponent; He won his election by a wide margin of 17.8%.

On the other side of the coin, Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who also ran for Senate that year, won her election by only 0.3%, but was able to participate in 99% of the chamber’s deliberations. Aside from Schiff, the other six members who sought the Senate nomination that year had vote turnout records of 80% or higher.

Notably, the only other member seeking the governorship in 2025, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, Republican of Virginia, decided not to seek re-election last year when she launched a bid for He became the next governor of Virginia.

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Green, the Catholic University professor, said there is no hard and fast rule in American politics when it comes to expectations about resigning from office for the sake of an election campaign. He pointed to candidates who made news about unexpectedly resigning from their seats to pursue a different position.

“We don’t have a rule in this country about people resigning from office to run for another office. In the 1996 presidential election, Robert Dole, who was running against [Bill] “I’m leaving the Senate while running for president,” Clinton said, which received national attention. I didn’t expect Cheryl to do the same. But of course this is dangerous.”

Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger marches in the 54th Annual Buena Vista Labor Day Parade alongside fellow Democrat Jay Jones in September 2025. (Wayne McNamee/Getty Images)

Despite a gap that has closed in recent months, Russell, Ciattarelli’s strategist, confirmed that Sherrill still leads the race with just three weeks to go until Election Day on November 4.

“Jack Ciattarelli doesn’t have the backbone to stand up to his boss in the White House. No wonder Jack keeps falling, even in Fox News polls, where he can’t get past the mid-40s, and voters are rejecting him on health care, costs, taxes and utilities. Sad!”

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The early voting period for the governor’s race begins on October 25 and continues until November 2.