The New Jersey governor-elect’s campaign says its win can be replicated nationally, in a memo first shared with POLITICO.
Mikie Sherrill has advice for her fellow Democrats heading into the 2026 elections: follow the lead I set in New Jersey to win again.
A new campaign memo written by Sherrill’s campaign manager Alex Ball, and shared first with POLITICO, makes the case to Democrats that Sherrill’s success in the gubernatorial race last week in the Garden State can be replicated nationally by keeping their affordability messaging solutions-focused, reengaging with the traditional Democratic base and competing with “the right-wing online ecosystem.”
After notching resounding wins across the board in the 2025 elections, Democrats feel bullish on their chances to inch back toward a majority in Congress. Double-digit governors’ race wins in New Jersey and Virginia, coupled with Democratic flips on Georgia’s Public Service Commission and taking at least 13 House of Delegates seats in Virginia, have the party looking eagerly to next year’s midterms when they hope to replicate that success nationwide. As the dust settles and Democrats look for the best formula for their electoral future, Sherrill’s campaign offers one plausible route for her fellow candidates — one that her campaign argues not only regains lost ground, but expands it.
“Lean into a modern approach to campaigning that competes everywhere, for every voter, with a message relentlessly focused on the issues voters care about. When you understand who your electorate is, and you communicate with them, they respond,” Ball wrote. “That is the key to winning in 2026 and beyond.”
Part of Sherrill’s success, Ball argued, was her ability to rebuild the Democratic coalition that crumbled for Kamala Harris in 2024. A significant portion of the memo outlines how the campaign made a conscious effort to reengage and organize within Democratic base communities — particularly in New Jersey’s Latino community, which swung sharply for Donald Trump in 2024.
As Democrats continue to make the case that a focus on affordability in a winning message, Sherrill’s campaign submitted that her “no-nonsense, military ethos of finding a way or making one” approach to bring costs down was a boon to their chances. That, and tying her Republican opponent to the Trump administration’s economic policies.
Ball also pointed to Sherrill’s military background as a former Navy helicopter pilot as a “unique personal quality” that Democrats should seek to capitalize on in their own races to connect with voters — whatever form that may take for each individual candidate. Last week in Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA officer, also beat her GOP opponent by double digits to take the governor’s mansion.
Notably, after the Trump campaign maneuvered around traditional outlets and seized on attention-grabbing alternative media like podcasts, Ball wrote that the same strategy can work for Democrats.
“We offered special creator access at major events, held briefings and calls with creators, communicated with national creators for amplification, and advised Mikie’s schedule so creators could attend and even participate in press gaggle,” she wrote. Later in the memo, Ball admonishes “press and pundits” for developing “narratives” that “ossified into prebaked and circular headlines” that she urges her fellow campaigns to push back on but not belabor.
“Recognize it, beat it back, but do not fall for it. Point to the historic wins in special elections, the 2025 general elections, and engage voters everywhere, on your terms. Campaign with confidence.”