Sherif Ibrahim was an American Democratic-Republican politician from New Jersey who served as Governor of New Jersey between 2030 and 2038, elected as a Democrat and later becoming a Democratic-Republican. Ibrahim was noteworthy for being the first practicing Muslim to be elected Governor of an American state, and as such his election was seen as a cultural watershed of acceptance of Muslims in the United States.
A physician by trade, Ibrahim was involved in Rutgers University student government and in 2023 was appointed New Jersey Commissioner of Health by then-Governor Stephen Sweeney. Ibrahim became responsible for transitioning New Jersey from the ACA Exchange that had been in place to the universal JerseyCare system, which offered universal, European-style health care to all New Jersey residents. He initially remained Public Health Commissioner under the Tom Kean administration, until he was suddenly sacked in late 2026, with many observers believing he was fired so Governor Kean could dismantly or weaken JerseyCare. Ibrahim defeated several powerful Democratic officials in the 2029 Democratic primary and went on to defeat Governor Kean by 11% of the vote in that fall's general election, becoming America's first Muslim Governor.