Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot who was just elected to her fourth term in Congress, entered the crowded field for New Jersey governor on Monday.

“In the Navy, I was on a mission to protect our country. Now, I’m announcing my candidacy for governor, on a mission to get things done for New Jersey,” Sherrill, dressed in her flight jacket, says in an kickoff video that highlights her background in the military and as an attorney.

Sherrill was a political unknown in New Jersey until 2018, when she was a top Democratic recruit to take on 24-year incumbent Republican Rodney Frelinghuysen, the chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

Sherrill’s candidacy was a vanguard of the political realignment of the well-off suburbs, so common in New Jersey, from traditionally Republican to solidly Democrat. Her strong early candidacy and the Democratic trends leading up to the first Trump administration’s midterm led Frelinghuysen to drop his reelection bid. He was replaced on the ballot by deeply conservative state Assemblymember Jay Webber. Though the race was considered competitive, Sherrill won by 15 points and has had little trouble being reelected in subsequent campaigns.

Sherrill, though the sixth high-profile Democrat to enter the race, is the only woman candidate from either major party. In the June primary, she faces Newark Mayor Ras Baraka; Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop; former Senate President Steve Sweeney; New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller; and fellow Rep. Josh Gottheimer, who launched his campaign on Friday.

Like the other candidates, Sherrill’s campaign was months in the making, if not longer. She’s already secured several endorsements, including the Laborers’ International Union of North America and, unofficially, from Democratic chairs in Essex, Middlesex and Passaic counties.

Sherrill, 52, was born in Virginia and grew up mostly along the East Coast. She settled in Montclair, New Jersey, about 16 years ago. A Naval Academy graduate who has a master’s in global history from the London School of Economics, Sherrill has a law degree from Georgetown University and, following a stint in private practice, worked as outreach and reentry coordinator for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey.

During her first campaign for Congress, Sherrill said she had been planning to work in criminal justice reform but that following Donald Trump’s first election in 2016 “there were a lot of issues I was incredibly concerned about.”

“To put a fine point on it, I think this president is leading through fear and intimidation, and I strongly believe this is a nation of courage and optimism. The attack on the institutions of our government was disturbing to me,” Sherrill told POLITICO at the time, criticizing Frelinghuysen for voting with Trump, including to repeal Obamacare.

She alluded to Trump in her campaign video Monday, saying that “after this election, we know people are more divided than ever on how to move forward.”

In Congress, Sherrill has for years fought to restore the full state and local tax deduction, which Trump’s major tax legislation reduced to just $10,000. While she has so far failed to restore it, Trump during his 2024 campaign pledged to do so. She is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

Sherrill has also stressed her opposition to the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, last summer announcing a plan to “restore abortion rights through military, courts, and the states.”

Sherrill’s campaign stressed in a press release accompanying her announcement her work to secure funding for the Gateway Project linking New Jersey and New York.

Initially a Blue Dog Democrat, Sherrill left the centrist caucus following a disagreement about its branding. Though Sherrill has stressed centrism, she’s managed to maintain friendly relations with the party’s progressive activists.

Sherrill’s family continues to be involved in the Navy. Her husband is also an Annapolis graduate, and her eldest daughter — one of four children — is currently serving in the Navy.

Sherill had considered a major event to kick off her campaign, potentially at a New Jersey diner, according to a person with knowledge of her plans who was granted anonymity to speak about internal deliberations. But following Trump’s election earlier this month she chose the more low-key approach, the person said, with Monday’s rollout video and a series of four labor and policy-focused events planned for Tuesday.