New Jersey Governor-Elect Mikie Sherrill joins Farnoosh for a candid conversation about the rising cost of living, the future of public schools, health care, taxes, and why politics and personal finance are inseparable.

Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, federal prosecutor, and three-term congresswoman, recently won the governor’s race in a decisive victory that coincided with significant Democratic gains nationwide. In this episode, she breaks down what state leaders can actually do to make life more affordable for families, from freezing utility rates to improving school funding to modernizing energy infrastructure.

Farnoosh also gives listeners a heads-up: the first part of this interview touches on a hyper-local school budget crisis in her hometown of Montclair, NJ. But this story isn’t unique. Across America, school districts are confronting rising costs, shrinking state support, and — in some cases — financial mismanagement. The questions Montclair is wrestling with (“Raise taxes or accept restrictive state aid?”) are the same questions communities everywhere are facing.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Sherrill discusses:

• Why public-school funding is cracking nationwide
• The real barriers to affordable health care at the state level
• How utility-rate freezes would work — and what critics get wrong
• The affordability crisis squeezing middle-class families
• What her election signals about the national political landsca

Originally recorded for Farnoosh’s local podcast The Montclair Pod, this expanded So Money release provides a rare look at how a new governor thinks about money, power, and the policies that shape our financial lives.

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