Two moderate Democrats elected to the House in 2018 with national security backgrounds are running for Governor in 2025, as their party moves on from 2024 losses and considers new messages to key voting blocs
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Two Democrats are aiming to trade the halls of Capitol Hill for the governors’ mansions in their home states of Virginia and New Jersey. Their message to voters could serve as a playbook to help Democrats turn the page from losses in 2024. NPR congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh sat down with both of them.
DEIRDRE WALSH, BYLINE: In 2025, Virginia and New Jersey will elect new governors.
MIKIE SHERRILL: These are the only two races in the nation, the first two races in the nation, where we can stand up and say this is the vision that we have of the future.
WALSH: That’s Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot. She’s competing in a crowded primary in June to be the Democratic nominee in the November New Jersey gubernatorial contest. Her colleague Abigail Spanberger, a former CIA analyst, is trying to become the first female governor of Virginia.
ABIGAIL SPANBERGER: Mikie and I both come from relatively male-dominated spaces, military for her, intelligence community for me. And so, you know, what I’ve always found to be the case is you just do a lot of hard work and you try, and, you know, as you’re opening doors, you make sure that it’s left wide open for all of the other, you know, competent folks who are going to follow your example, hopefully.
WALSH: The move to run statewide builds on many issues Spanberger tackled on Capitol Hill.
ABIGAIL SPANBERGER: And so for me, the decision to run for governor is not a decision to leave Congress, it’s a decision to run for governor, to be able to focus on the things that are priorities – strengthening our public schools, addressing rising costs for Virginians, really dealing with the crisis of, you know, supply of housing and all that that impacts.
WALSH: Both were elected in 2018, when a group of women with national security credentials won House seats, partly in response to then-President Trump’s first year in the White House. But Sherrill says she quickly learned being in the House was very different from the mission-focused U.S. military.
SHERRILL: Getting to Congress and feeling as if there was a lack of urgency sometimes or a lack of strategy.
WALSH: After Vice President Harris’ loss in November, Democrats are debating whether the party should be more progressive or more moderate, but Spanberger rejects these labels.
ABIGAIL SPANBERGER: The labels are amorphous and they change. I prefer pragmatic member, but the reality of it is that the only thing that matters is really where the voters are.
WALSH: Both lawmakers say high prices at the grocery store, rising housing costs and concerns over schools are what they hear about at home. Another issue Democrats thought would help win races in 2024, abortion access, is something both women say is still on voters’ minds, but Sherrill warns…
SHERRILL: I don’t think it’s enough for Democrats to run as anti-Trump, pro-abortion, and hope for great results. That’s not enough. We have got to define a vision forward that is going to create opportunity for people, that is going to help economically stabilize – people feel like, look, I’m on steady ground now and I’m going to be on steady ground in 10 years from now, and my kids are going to have a good future.
WALSH: Virginia is the only Southern state that hasn’t enacted more abortion restrictions since Roe v. Wade was overturned, and Spanberger says…
ABIGAIL SPANBERGER: Into the future, we’re looking to protect and codify the rights of women to access reproductive care, abortion access, but also contraception.
WALSH: Democrats are regrouping after losing the presidential race and debating who the future leaders should be. Sherrill points out that she and Spanberger are younger, and they represent a different dynamic from the candidates who were at the top of the ticket in 2024.
SHERRILL: I think it’s so exciting right now to think that we are going to have, in these two races in 2025, people running for governor who have school-age kids, who get what families are going through, viscerally. Not just, oh, it looks horrible. Guess what? It’s been horrible. Yes, we know.
WALSH: For these women, Trump was a factor in their first races for Congress. As they shift to run for governor, their races can be seen through the lens of President Trump’s first year back in the White House. If they are successful, their races may provide a blueprint for other Democrats. Deirdre Walsh, NPR News, Washington.
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