Jill Hirsch, a close friend of Gov. Mikie Sherrill and her longtime congressional aide, has been named president and CEO of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.
The NJSEA oversees the Meadowlands complex, although a joint venture between the two NFL teams that play at MetLife Stadium, the Giants and the Jets, operates the stadium.
She will replace Nick Mammano, a veteran Democratic operative and staffer who has held the post since January 1, 2025. Mammano will remain at the authority as a senior advisor.
A former attorney with the Legal Aid Society in New York, Hirsch served as political director of Sherrill’s first campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018.
The post pays roughly $280,000-a-year. Sherrill is expected to waive the NJSEA veto period today so that Hirsch may begin her position tomorrow.
Gov. Phil Murphy picked former Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto to lead the authority in early 2018 as a consolation prize after Assembly Democrats replaced him as speaker and instead chose Craig Coughlin. The original deal was for Prieto to hold the position for three years; he wound up staying for five.
Prieto was succeeded by Bergen County Democratic Chairman Paul Juliano, who brought Mammano as his chief of staff. Mammano was a former deputy executive director of the Bergen County Democratic Organization and aide to State Sen. Joseph Lagana; he was a vice president of Mercury Public Affairs before joining the sports authority. After Juliano retired at the end of 2024, Mammano was picked to succeed him.
Since Bergen County Democrats did not endorse Sherrill in last year’s Democratic primary, there was no guarantee that they could lay claim to the NJSEA position.
Next on the chopping block for the fledgling Sherrill governorship is Tim Eustace, the executive director of the North Jersey District Water Supply Commission. Eustace was serving as an assemblyman from the 38th district in 2018 and took the $175,000-a-year job after he was passed over for a State Senate seat. The utility post was his consolation job.
Eustace was an early supporter of Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop and is almost certain to be tossed by the new administration.
