Bipartisan endorsement backs Mikie Sherrill for New Jersey governor race

First on Fox: A former Biden administration spokesperson and a veteran GOP speaker who advises the affordability-focused policy group, the Affordability Coalition, are backing New Jersey Democratic candidate Mikie Sherrill’s run for president. governorFox News Digital has learned.

“After analyzing the plans of both candidates in the New Jersey gubernatorial race, the difference between Mickey Sherrill and Jack Schiattarelli on this specific issue of affordability is enormous,” Cost Coalition consultants Andrew Bates and Terry Holt wrote in their joint endorsement obtained by Fox News Digital Wednesday. “Mickey Sherrill has bold ideas for using the governor’s specific powers to make a difference that families will feel.”

Bates served as the White House’s first deputy press secretary under the Biden administration, and was a vocal supporter of the former president amid his growing health concerns during the 2024 election. Holt is a longtime Republican communicator and strategist, having previously served as a senior advisor to former Republican House Speaker John Boehner, and as a national spokesman for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign before launching his own communications firm, Holt Communications Strategies.

The Cost Coalition is a bipartisan group of presidents Donald Trump Critics have focused on reducing costs for US residents and reducing the national debt by supporting leaders who “invest in solutions that enhance the economic security of American families,” according to the group.

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Former White House Press Secretary Andrew Bates, pictured on March 28, 2022, during a news conference at the White House. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)

The Cost Coalition was launched in April 2025, with Holt and Bates criticizing Trump’s economic policies in an Associated Press commentary at the time, claiming that “the president’s agenda is an economic crisis that threatens your livelihood and your standard of living.”

The cost coalition includes a handful of allies of the former vice president Kamala Harris2024 campaign for the Oval Office, including Republican strategist Austin Weatherford, who chaired Republicans for Harris; former Harris National Director of Faith and Engagement Rev. Jennifer Butler; and national director of the Harris Campaign for Military and Veteran Family Engagement, the Associated Press reported in May.

Holt Communication Strategies founder Terry Holt has joined former Biden administration spokesman Andrew Bates to endorse Rep. Mickey Sherrill for governor of New Jersey. Bates and Holt are senior advisers to the bipartisan group the Cost Coalition. (Fox News)

The Cost Coalition’s endorsement of Sherrill on Wednesday argued that policies coming out of Washington, D.C., “are exacerbating America’s cost crisis, forcing… New Jersey Households are paying higher and higher prices for everything from utilities to groceries to health care.”

“Whether you are Republican or Democrat, it is undeniable that New Jerseyans need economic relief from inflationary tariffs, cuts to American energy and health care to cut taxes on the rich, and trillions in new debt,” the pair wrote. “To address the growing affordability crisis, the bipartisan Affordability Coalition was founded to support leadership that puts working families’ pocketbook issues front and center.”

Reps. Mickey Sherrill and Jack Ciattarelli face off in a gubernatorial debate as they compete to become the next governor of New Jersey. (Heather Khalifa/Associated Press)

Affordability is a major issue for both Sherrill and her Republican gubernatorial challenger, Jack Ciattarelli, in a state known for high taxes and chronic housing problems. Sherrill campaigned on an emergency order on electricity rates to freeze rates, supported consolidation of school districts to lower property taxes, and reduced food costs by encouraging additional grocery store locations in the state to enhance competition. The New Jersey Monitor reported.

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“Sheryl will reduce grocery costs by eliminating price gouging and ensuring small businesses can compete with large chains,” Holt and Bates continued their advocacy. “It will cut red tape that keeps home prices high, prevent pharmacy brokers from raising drug prices any higher than they already are, and help create and maintain good-paying jobs in New Jersey.”

“Sheryl has been vocal with voters about her opposition to Washington’s inflationary policies that drive up costs, including tariffs — a historic tax increase on workers — cuts in health care and clean energy, and adding trillions in new, unsustainable debt to give tax breaks to those who need them most,” they added.

New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill speaks before a crowd alongside Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, in Westville, New Jersey, on Saturday, October 11, 2025. (Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)

Chiattarelli, backed by Trump, has also focused his campaign on affordability, blaming Democrats for the state’s spike in electricity costs, and vowing to ban wind farms and instead further diversify the state’s energy resources with natural gas and nuclear. Ciattarelli also supported capping property taxes, restructuring income tax rates, and providing incentives for small businesses, such as protecting small business owners from paying taxes on their first $100,000 of income.

“Energy — electricity in particular — is one of the reasons we have an affordability crisis,” the Republican nominee said during an October appearance on “Fox & Friends.” “The current administration has failed us. My opponent has doubled down. There will be no wind farms off our Jersey shore, we will withdraw from RGGI — a carbon tax policy that has failed our state — and we will lower our electric bills on day one.”

Holt and Bates said they watched the New Jersey gubernatorial debates and gave Ciattarelli “the benefit of the doubt” before endorsing Sherrill.

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“Unfortunately, Jack Ciattarelli and his supporters in Washington support a Washington agenda that leads to higher costs and inflation,” they wrote. “And to give Ciattarelli the benefit of the doubt, we watched the discussion closely in case he offered any last-minute plans to put New Jersey’s economy first. But he gave Washington’s record on raising costs an ‘excellent’ grade. So the bipartisan Cost Coalition gives him an ‘F.’

Jack Ciattarelli, Republican candidate for governor of New Jersey, is interviewed by Fox News Digital on October 15, 2025 in Bayonne, New Jersey. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

This latest endorsement comes on the heels of other prominent Democrats backing Sherrill ahead of Election Day, including former President Barack Obama Filming a pre-campaign endorsement video the weekend before the election, while former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro will also join Sherrill at campaign events. Former President Joe Biden did not offer any public endorsement in 2025.

The 2025 off-season will feature only a few high-profile races, such as the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial races and the New York City mayoral race.

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the New Jersey elections It will be held on Tuesday.

Republicans, including Trump, have touted that the deep blue state could flip red this year after the Trump campaign made inroads with Garden State voters during the 2024 race. Trump narrowed his 2020 loss from 16 points to six points in 2024, with Republicans also flipping five states red during the last federal election cycle.