Wednesday on CNN’s “The Lead,” Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) said older Democratic lawmakers who were standing in the way of fighting for the American people needed to “consider stepping aside.”
Host Jake Tapper said, “Many of the notable victories last week, we should also note, belonged to candidates younger than me, like you and like Abigail Spanberger and like Zohran Mamdani. We also saw your colleague in the House, Nancy Pelosi, announced her retirement. You were outspoken a year ago and calling on then President Biden to step aside and not seek reelection. You were the ninth House Democrat to make that call. Do you think it’s time for other Democratic older lawmakers to think about making way for a new generation of leaders?”
Sherrill said, “Well, certainly, I think if people are standing in the way of fighting for the American people, it’s time to consider stepping aside. I mean, right now we have a crisis on our hands in so many different levels and if you can’t meet that with grit and determination, then it’s time to step down. And so as I look to the future, I look to this new generation of leaders that we are seeing step up in the Democratic Party that we saw on Tuesday, how compelling these leaders are to voters. and it takes a lot of work and energy. I was speaking to thousands of voters about affordability and about what it was going to take for them to really be successful, about what it was going to take to grow opportunities and that’s why we were able to communicate so effectively, to take bold action, to say, on day one, I’m declaring a state of emergency on utility costs. This isn’t kind of the old ideas of, we’re going to work on a ten year plan. This is right now, at this moment, people want to see leadership that takes on the crisis and meets the moment. That’s what I want to see in the Democratic Party.”
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