Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill meets with Gov. Phil Murphy at the governor’s office in Trenton on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025, a day after winning the gubernatorial election.

Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill will formally resign from the seat in the U.S. House of Representatives she’s held since 2019.

In a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy, Sherrill, a Democrat who has represented the 11th Congressional District, said she would relinquish the post at 11:59 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20.

“(It) has been an honor to serve residents of the 11th Congressional District since 2019,” she wrote. “I’ve been proud to fight for our communities, getting shovels in the ground for the Gateway Tunnel project, slashing through red tape on critical flood mitigation projects, protecting Picatinny Arsenal’s mission and funding community projects that support our students, infrastructure and public safety.”

She went on to say that “public service is about public trust” and she looks forward to “continuing to serve” in her new role as governor.

Sherrill also submitted a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

During her final floor speech last week, Sherrill confirmed that she would be resigning in the near future.

She said it would be her “last speech in this chamber” because she intended to submit her resignation and “turn to protecting all of New Jersey” before voting against the funding bill that led to the government shutdown.

What comes next?

The four-term congresswoman is set to take the state’s top spot in January, but her resignation speeds up the process for filling her seat.

It’s now up to Murphy to decide if he wants to call a special election. If he does, the special primary would be set for about 70 days after his declaration, and the special general election would be about 70 days after that.

If Murphy moves quickly, that puts the schedule to fill Sherrill’s seat as primary in early February and general in April.

A slew of candidates have already declared their intentions to run for her seat, including former Rep. Tom Malinowski, Essex County Commissioner and former Murphy campaign manager Brendan Gill and Lieutenant Governor Tahesha Way.

The district includes 15 municipalities in Essex County, 27 in Morris County and four in Passaic County. Before Sherrill's 2018 win, the district hadn’t elected a Democrat in decades. Redistricting has since moved the Sussex County towns out of the district and replaced them with more Democratic towns in Essex County, including Millburn.

Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Gov.-elect Mike Sherrill will resign her 11th Congressional District effective Nov. 20

Reporting by Katie Sobko, NorthJersey.com / NorthJersey.com

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