Her opponents:
- Black mayor of a majority-minority lower-income city
- Jewish mayor of a neighboring majority-minority immigrant sanctuary city
- Black/immigrant teacher's union leader
- Jewish legislator running on rightwing talking points
- White lapdog for the mob boss in the southern part of the state who has been deeply embedded in politics for decades
I would have preferred any of the first three listed, but when people call NJ solidly blue, that blue is on a national level, and leans heavily corporatist/"centrist.". "White ex-military mom" is about as centrist as it got here, which unfortunately is what flies on the state level. The dem machine is thoroughly corrupt, and progressives don't get much traction outside of their districts. The solid blue narrative really falls apart once you start getting local. There's a band of blue that roughly follows population density between NY and Philly, with pockets of red where the pockets are deeper. Parts of the NW and SE are basically Alabama.
The current D governor (a milquetoast investment banker) is the first two-term dem since the 70s, and the second term was by a hair (to the current R nominee). He replaced two-term clown turned national clown Chris Christie.
People like to shit on NJ because of Jersey Shore memes and the areas around NYC being mostly concrete, swamp, and/or industrial. Save it. There's plenty of real issues to dunk on. If the shade you're throwing comes from an informed perspective, it's more effective.
On a side note, I was very wrong about my predictions a few weeks ago. I was convinced that either the lapdog or the DINO was going to win... mostly because of campaign advertising. Sherrill completely ignored my area aside from some preliminary feelers early on. But she had the backing of the machine (which I was not aware of), and, well, here we are.
I think I can be a pro basketball player.
I'm wrong.