Roommates Spanberger and Sherrill elected governor

Two former Capitol Hill roommates shared unlikely paths to election night success.

Photo by Haley Scull/The Barnard Bulletin

By Margaret O’Halloran

December 3, 2025

On November 4, Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill were elected governors of Virginia and New Jersey, respectively. As the only two states holding gubernatorial elections this year, their races were highly anticipated all across the country. Both women won with double-digit leads over their Republican opponents, boding well for the Democratic Party after its 2024 defeat, and offering an early snapshot of the nation’s political mood in the first major elections since the 2024 presidential race.

Though the elections were watched around the world, nowhere did they feel more relevant than in my corner room in Sulzberger Hall, where a Virginian, me, and a Jersey girl, my roommate, tracked the results as they came in. With Abigail Spanberger becoming the first female governor of Virginia and Mikie Sherrill becoming only the second woman ever elected governor of New Jersey, both of our home states were hitting milestones; our room was an unexpected link between the two of them. 

Abigail Spanberger is a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative and worked as a Democratic representative for Virginia’s 7th District from 2014 to 2019. Though born in New Jersey, she moved to Virginia at 13 and went on to study French literature at the University of Virginia. She later obtained a Master of Business Association from Purdue and the GISMA Business School. 

Spanberger cites the loss of healthcare to thousands of Virginians after the 2016 election as the deciding factor in her leaving the private sector and running for office. Elected as the first Democrat to serve in Virginia’s 7th District since 1970, she won the race by barely more than a percentage point and was the first woman ever to hold the position. Now known for her bipartisan politics and her focus on security, Spanberger is widely supported in her home state. In an interview with the Washington Post, she said that she will “continue talking about the things I hear most about from voters,” mentioning lowering costs, strengthening public education, and women’s rights. 

Mikie Sherrill was born and raised in Virginia and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1994. She spent nearly ten years in active duty, flying helicopters on missions in Europe and the Middle East. After retiring, she received her juris doctor and worked as an Assistant US Attorney for New Jersey. Similar to Spanberger, the 2016 election spurred Sherrill to run for public office. She was elected to represent New Jersey’s 11th District in 2018, turning a deeply red district and displacing Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, R-N.J., who had held the position for 24 years. Now elected governor, she is focused on affordability, energy costs, reproductive rights, and public safety. 

The two women worked together closely during their time on Capitol Hill. As center-leaning Democrats focused on national security, both women were part of the “Mod Squad,” a group of moderate Democratic senators who, according to their website, “work across the aisle to develop common sense solutions to everyday problems.” 

In fact, Spanberger and Sherrill worked so closely that they moved in together, sharing an apartment from Monday through Thursday when Congress was in session. In an interview with the Post, they describe their time together and the not-so-glamorous side of Capitol Hill, sitting on couches dragged from storage and eating off non-machine-washable wedding china. Though my roommate and I cannot claim to be so important politically, we can relate to the Trader Joe’s frozen dinners and the aspirational gym trips that the two women said defined their time together. 

Watching Spanberger and Sherrill get elected in my first cycle as a voter was a privilege. Spanberger joins a class that includes three presidents, but is the first woman, while Sherrill brings her extensive military and legal experience to one of the highest offices in the nation. Beyond their demanding careers, both Spanberger and Sherrill are also mothers, balancing family life with their professional responsibilities — a reality that makes their achievements all the more impressive. But for all their many similarities, Spanberger told the Post that the real common thread between the two of them is that they are “relentlessly focused on the issues that people across our communities bring to us.” 

Their success and dedication are reminders for women all across the nation that new milestones are always possible, that there is no single path to success, and that it is possible to pursue a demanding career while raising a family. For my roommate and me, their wins are a reminder that with tenacity and grit, doors open — whether in politics or in life. And who knows, another Virginia-New Jersey roommate duo? Maybe you will see us up there one day.