congresswoman Mikey Cheryl is the other sitting House member running for the Democratic nomination she has the party establishment behind her but in such a crowded field it's anyone's race in the Navy I was on a mission to protect our country now I'm announcing my candidacy for governor mikey Cheryl the former Navy helicopter pilot prosecutor current congresswoman and mama of four was one of the later candidates to jump into the Democratic primary race for governor but she quickly became the front runner after winning several county conventions including Essex Middle Sex Mercer and Ocean counties organization still matters you go into a county a big Democratic county somebody's going to have a list of volunteers if they get to hand that to you that's a huge advantage for you they have a list of people who they know and here are our connections that's a huge help learning from the Democrats major losses in last year's election Cheryl's main message has been affordability let's be the state that builds more housing let's fix the economy let's make life more affordable for hardworking New Jerseyians and Cheryl's vowed to take on President Trump writing in an op-ed recently that Democrats need a new playbook to take on the president it's not just fighting back against cuts to Medicaid against cuts to Social Security or the Department of Education all that would do to our state it's not just having a really strong attorney general as I would to fight back against what's going on in Washington that's harming New Jersey but it's also fighting for the people of New Jersey driving down housing costs and utility costs and health care costs making sure every kid in our state has access to a great education but in what's been a fairly tepid primary season for the six Democratic candidates Cheryl's challengers have begun taking aim at the front runner Newark Mayor Ras Baraka responding to her op-ed with a question "Where are the new plays?"

referring to her playbook saying tough talk and wishful thinking won't get it done jersey City Mayor Steven Fulip asked Elch the Election Law Enforcement Commission to investigate her campaign spending cheryl in turn has accused Fulip of a history of corruption former Senate President Steve Sweeney reminding voters that she was fined for violating the Congressional Stock Act which bars lawmakers from trading stocks based on non-public information voters expect these attacks in the home stretch insiders expected more from Cheryl i think a lot of people expected her to be a little bit further out than she actually is i think the surprising thing about uh Congresswoman Cheryl's campaign is that she hasn't quite run away with it uh just yet she's only recently started going on TV others had been up before her and with just over a month to go before the votes are cast and six candidates still in the race the fate of Cheryl's gubernatorial run could be determined by just a couple thousand votes she's got about 5 and a half million in the coffers to help her try to pull out a strong lead in this home stretch for NJ Spotlight News I'm Joanna Gagas