New Jersey residents have a slightly lower approval of the job Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) is doing compared to that of her predecessor, former Gov. Phil Murphy, according to a new poll.
The first Rutgers-Eagleton poll on Sherrill’s approval rating comes as the Garden State governor, elected in November by a 14.4% margin, approaches her 100 days in office. In the poll, 45% of New Jerseyans approved of Sherrill, 29% disapproved, and 26% said they didn’t know.
Ashley Koning, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling, said the relative middle-of-the-line results reflect those of Murphy’s.
“Gov. Sherrill’s grades mirror much of what we saw as Gov. Phil Murphy left office, pointing to how difficult it is for any new governor – especially one of the same party – to make headway on substantive issues while still building out her administration and setting an agenda,” Koning said.
But Sherrill’s approval rating is less favorable than that of her predecessor as he left office. Murphy left the governor’s office in early 2026 with a 48% approval rating, with 35% saying they disapproved of his time in office, per a January Rutgers-Eagleton poll. Her approval numbers are very similar to Murphy’s numbers from his first term in office, when he had a 46%-29% approval rating, per the New Jersey Globe.
In this week’s poll of Sherrill’s approvals, she came away with 75% of polled Democrats supporting her, 11% of polled Republicans supporting her, and 34% of polled Independents supporting her. Meanwhile, 3% of Democrats, 72% of Republicans, and 28% of Independents disapproved of her first 100 days in office. Sherrill’s team is considering the poll a win.
“Governor Sherrill moved immediately to deliver and New Jersey recognizes hard work. She started with a Day One freeze on energy rate hikes, beating Donald Trump in court and putting 1,000 people back to work on the Gateway Tunnel, and a kitchen table budget that lowers costs and is the most fiscally responsible in years. Delivering on her commitments will always be the Governor’s focus,” Steve Sigmund, a senior Sherrill spokesperson said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
Compared to her fellow gubernatorial compatriot elected on the Democrats’ 2025 affordability agenda, Sherrill’s disapproval numbers are looking better than Gov. Abigail Spanberger‘s (D-VA).
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Spanberger registered a 47% approval rating in a recent Washington Post–Schar School poll, clocking in a few percentage points higher than Sherrill. However, Spanberger, who is supporting Virginia’s contentious redistricting battle, received the disapproval of 46% of respondents, which is much higher than Sherrill’s 29%.
During her first couple of months in office, Sherrill has focused much of her agenda on utility prices, countering President Donald Trump’s agenda on illegal immigration, and New Jersey energy policy.