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A firestorm in NJ over release of Sherrill's naval records. Whose campaign is hurt most?
By
Mike Hayes
Published Oct 2, 2025
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Mikie Sherrill for New Jersey
By
Mike Hayes
Published Oct 2, 2025
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The improper release of Rep. Mikie Sherrill’s naval service records has lit a firestorm in New Jersey's relatively quiet but tightening governor's race, raising questions about Sherrill’s time in the U.S. Naval Academy and also whether the documents obtained by her opponent Jack Ciattarelli will ultimately hurt his campaign more than they damage her reputation in the eyes of voters.
The records came to light last week when CBS News reported that an ally of Ciattarelli’s campaign, former Marine and failed congressional candidate Nick de Gregorio, was mistakenly given personal information on the Democratic nominee in response to a public records request made to the National Archives for her Navy service records. The records included Sherrill’s Social Security number, home address and her 80-year-old parents’ address.
The National Archives sent a letter to Sherrill apologizing for the error. De Gregorio told CBS he sought the information on his own after a strategist with the Ciattarelli campaign asked him to dig into Sherrill’s history.
On the campaign trail, Ciattarelli has questioned Sherrill’s involvement in a cheating scandal that roiled the Naval Academy during her time there after the NJ Globe reported Sherrill’s name was not included in the program for her 1994 naval graduation. Sherrill told the news outlet that she was not allowed to walk with her class because she failed to turn in classmates implicated in the scandal.
Ciattarelli’s campaign called the revelation that Sherrill was barred from walking “stunning and deeply disturbing.”
Republican Jack Ciattarelli squared off with Democrat Mikie Sherrill at a debate on Sunday.
Peter G. Borg/Rider University
On Tuesday, House Democrats said the National Archives’ inspector general had launched an investigation into the release of Sherrill’s personal information, a development first reported by Politico. Sherrill blamed the Trump administration for the release and has also called for a criminal investigation into the matter.
“The Trump administration and Ciattarelli campaign owe the people of New Jersey answers and we expect a thorough investigation so this never again happens to any military veteran or any American,” said Sean Higgins, Sherrill campaign’s communication director.
Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, has tried to portray the release as an affront to all veterans. At a campaign stop in Wildwood Crest on Tuesday, two veterans approached Sherrill to voice their displeasure over the release of the records.
Robert Mullock, an army veteran from Cape May, called the improper disclosure an “absolute disgrace” and a “cheap thing” by the Ciattarelli campaign.
“ She did nothing wrong. The only thing she didn't do is turn her fellow soldiers in. And that's something that the army and veterans hold very dear – that you support your fellow soldiers,” he told Gothamist.
At a campaign stop Wednesday, Ciattarelli said Sherrill should “come clean” and release her full disciplinary records.
“She's telling us that she was punished because she wouldn't turn in fellow classmates, I'm not so sure that's true, but the way to prove it's true is by releasing her disciplinary records,” he said.
Ciattarelli said it was “unfortunate” that the National Archives didn’t redact certain information.
“But nobody's done anything illegal,” he added.
Attorneys for Ciattarelli threatened to sue Sherill and her campaign for defamation over comments that his campaign conspired to smear her with “ill-gotten documents,” according to a letter sent to her campaign attorneys.
In a statement to the NJ Globe on Tuesday, all but one of New Jersey's 43 Republican state legislators called on Sherrill to release any records related to her role in the 1994 cheating scandal at the Naval Academy.
“The Naval Academy’s honor concept makes clear that a midshipman does not lie, cheat or steal. New Jerseyans deserve to know whether Congresswoman Sherrill upheld that standard,” the statement said.
The one Republican who declined to sign onto the statement, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, told Gothamist, “This is not how we win elections.”
“As Republicans, it is extremely important that we show our heart in order to win. And I don't think the attacks on candidates, whether they’re significant attacks or not, are really helping the Republican Party win in New Jersey. I think we should just stick to the issues,” said Bramnick, who ran for the Republican nomination for governor in 2025 but lost to Ciattarelli.
Sherrill did not say whether she would release more records in response to a question from Gothamist. She has called for the Ciattarelli campaign to return all of the service records it has obtained. She said it has yet to do so.
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Politics
elections
new jersey
Mike Hayes
Mike Hayes covers equity and access to opportunity in New Jersey. He joined WNYC and Gothamist in 2023. Before that, he worked as a freelance journalist writing about policing and criminal justice. He has written for ProPublica, CNN, HuffPost, BuzzFeed News and The Appeal. He is also the author of the book, “The Secret Files: Bill De Blasio, The NYPD, and the Broken Promises of Police Reform.” In 2019, he was a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists.
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