Now she’s “D.C. Mikie.”

Rebecca Michelle Sherrill – Mikie to her friends and ‘Montclair Mikie” to her opponent – has just won a truly historic victory. Come January, she will be the first Democrat to represent Morris County in Congress in more than 30 years.

The race was called before 10 p.m., sending the crowd in the Parsippany Sheraton into a frenzy.

Sherrill took the podium at around 11 p.m. and quoted Harry Truman in saying that America was not built on fear, but on courage.

She spoke of attacks against traditional American values and said the time has come to recommit ourselves to democratic ideals.

“In order to form a more perfect union, first we need to be united,” she said.

The Sherrill campaign had almost a rock star quality to it and that was much in evidence tonight. After her speech, Sherrill plunged into crowd and was mobbed by dozens, if not hundreds, of admirers.

At a press conference afterwards, an odd occurrence on election night, Sherrill said what is now her district has both conservative and liberal areas, but that all want quality health care.

Well aware that the 11th  district still leans Republican – at least officially – Sherrill said she would reach out to GOP leaders.

“I already started doing that,” she said.

Despite what turned out to be a rather easy win, Sherrill began the campaign more than a year ago as an unknown.

Election night is no time for reflection, but Sherrill said that “saying I may have been an underdog is probably being nice.”

Her campaign noted that Republican Jay Webber had called Sherrill to concede.