New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill is facing renewed attention after revelations that two of her children were accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy, days after her campaign was rattled by reports of her involvement in a 1994 cheating scandal as a midshipman.
On Tuesday, the gubernatorial campaign of Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) came under added pressure following news that two of her four children, Lincoln and Margaret Hedberg, had secured appointments to the U.S. Naval Academy. The announcement, first made in June, noted that the siblings were among just nine students from her congressional district to gain entry to the service academy, which admits fewer than one in ten applicants. According to the academy, each member of Congress may nominate up to 15 candidates for each vacancy, though only five constituents may be enrolled at any given time. Applicants must also meet additional academic, medical, and physical requirements.
The New York Post reported that the children received nominations through New Jersey U.S. Sens. Cory Booker and George Helmy rather than their mother’s congressional office. Sherrill said she directed them to apply through the Senate process “in order to remove even the appearance of a conflict of interest.” It remains unclear if Booker or Helmy listed either applicant as their principal nominee.
Questions quickly surfaced online over how two children from the same family were admitted in the same year given the competitive nature of the process. Sherrill’s campaign communications director, Sean Higgins, denounced the attention on her family as an “attack,” accusing allies of Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli of targeting her husband and children. Supporters of Sherrill have countered that her daughter went through the Navy Preparatory Program before entering the academy, and that the admissions were earned on their own merit. Furthermore, Sherrill’s campaign has rejected calls to release her full Naval Academy disciplinary records, arguing that the disclosure of her unredacted military files was unlawful, while pointing to her nearly ten years of service as a Navy officer.
The controversy comes as Sherrill continues to face questions over her own history at Annapolis. She has acknowledged being barred from walking at her 1994 graduation after declining to turn in classmates involved in a December 1992 electrical engineering cheating scandal, though she graduated and was commissioned as a Navy helicopter pilot. The Naval Academy later confirmed that dozens of midshipmen were disciplined, with two dozen expelled and many more punished with delayed graduations. The episode prompted congressional hearings, the resignation of the academy’s superintendent, and reforms to restore confidence in its honor system.
Her husband, Jason Hedberg, was also named in a 1994 lawsuit filed by midshipmen attempting to block an academy Honor Board from proceeding with disciplinary hearings related to the scandal. Court records show Hedberg and about four dozen others argued that their Fifth Amendment rights were violated when they were compelled to provide statements to investigators. The suit was ultimately unsuccessful, though Hedberg did graduate and later served as a Navy intelligence officer.
The developments arrive at a pivotal point in New Jersey’s closely watched governor’s race. Mail-in voting data shows Republican returns up nine points compared to the same stage in 2024, narrowing a Democrat edge. An Emerson College/PIX11/The Hill survey conducted September 22–23 placed Sherrill and Ciattarelli tied at 43 percent each, with 11 percent of voters undecided. The dead heat underscores the high stakes as Sherrill attempts to fend off challenges on multiple fronts while Ciattarelli, endorsed by President Donald Trump, seeks to build momentum in a state where Republicans have not won a gubernatorial race since 2013.
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