Democrat Rep. Mikie Sherrill talks key issues for New Jersey ahead of gubernatorial primary
MADISON, New Jersey (WABC) -- With a track record of beating a Republican candidate to win her congressional seat, Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill is focusing a lot of her attention on the man she thinks will be the republican candidate for governor in November.
But in order for her to meet a GOP challenger, Sherrill must beat out a crowded field of democrats on June 10.
She is trying to distinguish herself from the rest of the pack.
"People say there's the right way, the wrong way, and the New Jersey way, and they just sort of put Band-Aids on the New Jersey way," Sherrill said. "I want to make sure we are doing the best job possible in delivering for the people of New Jersey. So as governor, I'm going to build houses, I'm going to drive down utility costs."
The mother of four, former U.S. Navy pilot and federal prosecutor says New Jersey is no-nonsense place with key issues felt statewide - like affordability.
"Well, the top issues that I hear about from the hundreds of people that I see as I go around the state are housing and rental prices, utility costs coming this summer and the health care system and how difficult it is to navigate that," Sherrill said.
Transportation is another key matter.
"We're doing some of that, we really need to build that out at scale, we look across the world at some of the best-run transit systems, and that's how they do it," Sherrill said. "That is how they push money into their transit system and really defray the costs for commuters."
And the big one: taxes.
"We have a lot of micro-districts in our school system, so we have more municipalities than California and more superintendents than mayors, which just shows you that we have work to do in sharing services," Sherrill said.
Sherrill said she has a proven track record in Congress, one that gave her the support of the Sierra Club because of her environmental record.
"The state that figures out clean cheap energy is going to set the gold standard for the future," Sherrill said.
There are six Democrats and five Republicans in the running for New Jersey governor. Eyewitness News will profile a candidate for governor each day this week.
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