The White House directed flags across the nation to half-staff in honor of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican and decades-long Air Force veteran who died earlier this week. Governors in both red and blue states complied. New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill did not.
As of midday Thursday, flags at the New Jersey State Capitol in Trenton remained at full-staff. The New Jersey Department of State's own flag-status tracking page confirmed it plainly: "all flags full-staff." Sherrill's office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The snub drew sharp criticism from New Jersey state Sen. Joe Pennacchio, a Republican from Boonton who had formally requested earlier in the week that Sherrill lower the flags in compliance with the White House proclamation. The proclamation directed U.S. flags to fly at half-staff nationwide through Saturday evening. Pennacchio told Fox News Digital he found the governor's silence baffling, and revealing.
As the New York Post reported, the state senator offered a pointed assessment of the governor who has held office for roughly six months:
"This is probably the most political [Trenton administration], and she's only been there six months, probably the most political governor I've served with in the last 25 years."
He stressed that his request carried no partisan edge:
"My request was very respectful. It wasn't partisan at all."
Pennacchio noted that he and Sherrill had a productive working relationship when she served in Congress representing his state Senate district. The two offices cooperated on intergovernmental constituent services without friction. That history makes the governor's refusal to respond, let alone act, all the more conspicuous.
The contrast that cuts deepest for Sherrill is not with Republican governors. It is with members of her own party. Sen. Cory Booker, the New Jersey Democrat whom few would accuse of ideological moderation, recorded a video tribute to Graham. In it, Booker recalled how the two senators collaborated on criminal justice reform and the passage of the First Step Act.
"True to his word, [Graham] rolled up his sleeves and he went to work."
Pennacchio pointed to Booker's gesture as proof that basic decency does not require abandoning your politics:
"Senator Booker is as partisan as they come, but he did the right thing and put his partisanship aside."
Booker recounted how, as a freshman senator, he was told by Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois that Graham would be a good bipartisan partner on criminal justice reform. Graham, at the time locked in a South Carolina primary, told Booker candidly that he couldn't be seen working with Democrats until after the election, then followed through on the partnership once the race was behind him. The two went on to help pass the First Step Act, one of the most significant criminal justice reform bills in a generation.
That kind of record, reaching across the aisle on substance while remaining a committed conservative, is exactly what a flag-lowering is supposed to honor. It is not a political endorsement. It is a gesture of national respect for a lifetime of public service.
The list of governors who followed the White House proclamation includes Democrats. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro ordered flags lowered. Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer did the same. Leaders in California, Colorado, and Maryland also reportedly complied.
Sherrill was not entirely alone in her inaction. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul did not appear to have issued a half-staff order, and the Empire State's official flag status remained "full-staff" as of Thursday. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger's state showed the same. Fox News Digital reached out to both governors for comment; no responses were reported.
But the spotlight falls hardest on Sherrill. Pennacchio's public request gave her office a clear, documented opportunity to act, or at least explain. She did neither.
Lindsey Graham served for decades in the U.S. Air Force. He represented South Carolina in the Senate for years. He voted to confirm two Supreme Court justices nominated by a Democratic president, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor. He worked with one of the most liberal members of the Senate on criminal justice reform. Whatever one thought of his politics, his record of public service and willingness to cross party lines on specific issues was well documented.
Rep. Christopher Smith, the Republican who represents the Jersey Shore and is New Jersey's longest-serving congressman, issued a statement earlier in the week:
"Lindsey Graham was an indefatigable and courageous fighter for the right to life, human rights, liberty and freedom. He was articulate and persuasive and brought both incisive candor and humor to debate. He was a national treasure and will be deeply missed. My wife, Marie, and I offer our deepest condolences to his family."
Pennacchio framed the issue in terms that have nothing to do with party registration:
"Our nation has long understood that when a public servant passes away after a lifetime of service to the American people, we come together and honor them with dignity and respect. New Jersey should not be the exception."
And then, more simply:
"The death of one diminishes a little bit of all of us."
Sherrill's office offered no explanation. No policy rationale. No statement of sympathy. No alternative tribute. Just silence, while the flags in Trenton stayed right where they were.
Fox News Digital also reached out to New Jersey's other U.S. senator, Democrat Andy Kim. No response was reported from his office either.
The open questions here are straightforward. Was this a deliberate choice by Sherrill, or an oversight? If it was deliberate, on what grounds did the governor decide that a White House proclamation honoring a deceased senator and military veteran did not warrant compliance? If it was an oversight, what does it say about the competence of an administration that has been in office for only six months and already cannot manage a routine act of national protocol?
None of those questions can be answered because Sherrill's office chose not to answer them. That itself is an answer of sorts.
Lowering a flag to half-staff is one of the simplest, least controversial acts a governor can perform. It costs nothing. It commits the state to no policy. It endorses no ideology. It simply says: a public servant who gave decades of his life to this country has died, and we acknowledge that with the dignity the moment requires.
When governors in blue states like California, Pennsylvania, and Delaware can manage that gesture for a Republican senator, and when Cory Booker can record a tribute video praising Graham's character and work ethic, the refusal to act looks less like principle and more like pettiness.
Pennacchio has served in Trenton for a quarter century. He has watched governors of both parties come and go. For him to call this the most political administration he has seen in all that time, after just six months, is not a throwaway line. It is an indictment earned by conduct.
A flag at half-staff is not a favor to the deceased. It is a statement about the living, about whether they can still set partisanship aside long enough to honor a life of service. In Trenton this week, the answer flew at full-staff for everyone to see.
