Mikie Sherrill spent nearly 10 years flying helicopter missions for the Navy. She served as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's office and developed programs to help federal prisoners reenter their communities. She also coached her 11-year-old daughter's lacrosse team and witnessed firsthand how competitive suburban parents can be. But her latest pursuit may be the toughest yet: She's running for Congress in the 2018 midterm and taking on 22-year Republican incumbent Rodney Frelinghuysen, a political powerhouse in his own right.

But as Sherrill can attest, she's never been one to back down from a challenge.

It started when she was just 10 years old. Then a fifth-grader, Sherrill was determined to join the military one day and become a pilot like her World War II veteran grandfather. At her father's suggestion, she decided she’d enlist in the Navy. The fact that the Naval Academy, at the time, did not admit women was of no concern—they’d change the rules once it was time for her to go to college.

Sure enough, Sherrill enrolled in the Naval Academy at Annapolis and went on to serve in the Navy for nearly a decade. She then went to Georgetown Law and eventually joined the U.S. Attorney's office in New Jersey. For the past seven years, she, her husband, and their four children have been living in Montclair, New Jersey, a New York City suburb, where Sherrill not only coaches girls’ lacrosse but also manages her son's baseball team. After leaving the U.S. Attorney's office last spring, Sherrill planned to go into criminal justice reform.

Then the election happened—and Sherrill was compelled to take action.

"I fought for this country my whole adult life," Sherrill says over iced tea at a neighborhood coffee shop. "I have four kids. There wasn’t a point where I could consciously decide that I was not going to fight for the future of this country."

Democratic House candidate and former Navy helicopter pilot Mikie Sherrill commanding an H-3 Sea King Courtesy of Mikie Sherrill

Truth be told, Sherrill’s congressional bid will most certainly be a fight. She’s facing a monolithic figure within the Republican establishment—one who not only descends from New Jersey political dynasty but currently helms the House Appropriations Committee (the very one that controls Congress's purse strings).

For those less familiar with New Jersey political families, the Frelinghuysens go back nearly three centuries, spanning four senators, two representatives, and one cabinet member. Schools, roads, a township—even an arboretum—all bear the Frelinghuysen name.

Rodney Frelinghuysen has sold himself as a moderate Republican, one who's fiscally conservative but more lax on social issues. He first won New Jersey’s Eleventh District in 1994 and hasn’t faced a serious challenger since.