New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill will make state history next month when her inauguration takes place in Newark rather than in Trenton.
The event will mark only the second time in the 235 years since Trenton became the state’s capital that a Garden State governor is sworn into office elsewhere, according to NJ Advance Media.
The only other time was in 1998 when Christie Whitman — New Jersey’s only female governor so far — also took her oath in Newark. Both women chose the New Jersey Performing Arts Center for their big day.
Sherrill will take office on Jan. 20 after defeating former Republican Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli in November to take over the governor’s mansion currently occupied by Democrat Phil Murphy.
Murphy became New Jersey’s 56th governor in 2018 and is only allowed to serve two terms by law. He was the first Democratic governor in the state to win consecutive terms in over 40 years.
Sherrill, a former Navy pilot who joined Congress in 2019, beat Ciattarelli by nearly 15 points with support from prominent Democrats including former President Barack Obama.
“You’ve got a future governor to be excited about in Mikie Sherrill,” Obama told her supporters at a Nov. 1 rally in Newark.
