Off-year elections don’t predict what will happen in the midterms, but results favoring one party or the other can create momentum that could have an impact on subsequent contests.

This year, two off-year gubernatorial contests, in Virginia and New Jersey, give Democrats an opportunity to create momentum if they can win both elections.

The race for governor of the Garden State pits Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill against former GOP Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli. 

Sherrill graduated from the Naval Academy and spent almost a decade on active duty as a helicopter pilot. She holds a master’s degree from the London School of Economics and a law degree from Georgetown. She subsequently served as an assistant U.S. attorney.

Sherrill won a U.S. House seat in 2018 and was elected three more times before deciding to run for governor.

The congresswoman was one of a half-dozen serious Democratic contenders for governor, including another member of Congress, two high-profile mayors and the former president of the New Jersey Senate.

Sherrill has an independent streak. She was the seventh member of the House to call for President Joe Biden to exit from the 2024 presidential contest, and on two occasions she didn’t vote for Nancy Pelosi as speaker. 

Ciattarelli, a graduate of Seton Hall University, is a businessman who was elected to the Somerset County Freeholder Board and to the State........

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