The only two Democrats running for governor of their respective states this year are a pair of House lawmakers with a cozy friendship that was forged after they both won their first elections in 2018.
Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger and New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill have emerged as prospective shining stars within the Democrat Party as they look to cinch gubernatorial victories in November amid ongoing internal turmoil within their party following 2024's presidential election.
The pair share a bond going back to their first terms in Congress, including rooming together as freshmen lawmakers on Capitol Hill, they previously told various media outlets.
"I feel incredibly fortunate," Sherrill told Elle magazine in June of their friendship. "Because who would've guessed when we entered Congress together that of the only two statewide races going on in the entire country all these years later, I'd be in it with a good friend of mine."
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Both Spanberger, 46, and Sherrill, 53, were first elected to Congress during the 2018 midterm cycle, which marked the nation's most recent "blue wave" election, when Democrats flipped the House and gained 40 seats.
The pair first met during the height of their first congressional campaigns when Sherrill's sister worked as one of Spanberger's "super volunteers," the gubernatorial hopefuls told Elle in June of their friendship.
Spanberger is a former undercover CIA officer and Sherrill a former Navy pilot who forged a friendship over their shared focus on national security while on the campaign trail and upon their elections to the House, the outlet reported.
"I think we had visions that we'd be hanging out," Sherrill said of their friendship after winning their House elections in 2018. "Little did we know that as frontline members of Congress, there would be no hanging out. There was lots of late-night policy work, though."
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"Which, ultimately, I think can be fun!" Spanberger added.
After moving to D.C. apartments on the same floor of a building on Capitol Hill in 2019, the pair decided to rent a shared apartment for the days they spent in the city, The Washington Post reported in 2024.
"Some people seem to have fun in Congress," Spanberger told The Washington Post at the time. "Speaking for both of us, while we're here, we're away from our families. We just work from the time we get up to the time we go to bed, and it's meeting, meeting, meeting."
Spanberger noted the loneliness of spending a chunk of each month in a D.C. apartment where "the only sound is your own" before the two moved in together and "drank a lot of coffee, occasionally took a sauna and resolved to make more visits to the gym," the outlet reported.
The pair told both Elle and The Washington Post that they gravitated toward other female lawmakers from the 2018 election cycle - specifically, a group of five women dubbed "the badasses" by CNN during their freshman year - who shared national security and military backgrounds, noting they bucked the "every man for himself" mindset of D.C.
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"And I remember thinking, 'Well I'm glad I've entered with this group of women, because we're going to be able to work together.' And that was true," Sherrill said of working with like-minded female lawmakers.
"Mikie and I are both the eldest of three sisters," Spanberger told Elle of the pair's work ethic on Capitol Hill. "So that's the essential piece."
Spanberger threw her hat in the Virginia gubernatorial ring first, announcing a run in 2023 while forgoing a re-election effort to retain her seat in the House.
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If elected, the self-described moderate would become the state's first female governor. Spanberger is facing off against Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears to succeed Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is term-limited.
Sherrill announced her run to serve as the Garden State's next governor in November 2024. She is facing off against Republican candidate Jack Ciattarelli to succeed New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who is term-limited from running a third campaign.
The off-year 2025 elections are viewed as a bellwether for the midterms in 2026, and could deliver Spanberger and Sherrill Democrat star status if they prove victorious amid their party's fallout from the 2024 presidential election.
The Democratic Party was thrown into a tailspin after then-President Joe Biden dropped his re-election effort at the end of July 2024, leaving his running mate, then-Vice President Kamala Harris, 107 days to pick up the mantle and rally renewed support for the Democrat ticket.
President Donald Trump ultimately won the popular vote and the Electoral College, sweeping all seven battleground states and leaving the Democratic Party in disarray as it looks for new leaders ahead of the midterms and 2028 federal election.
Fox News Digital reached out to both campaigns Monday regarding the pair's yearslong friendship but did not immediately receive replies.
