If you thought we’d be done with the Murphys after January 2026, Save Jerseyans?
We may not be so lucky. According to The New Jersey Globe, “New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy will take steps to seek the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate by filing with the Federal Election Commission to raise funds to test the waters and gauge the feasibility of becoming a candidate” at some point this week. Murphy long-rumored interest was obviously catalyzed by Bob Menendez’s recent indictment on dynamite charges including bribery and acting as an unregistered agent for foreign interests.
David Wildstein also reports that she’s in the field with a poll.
The Democrat field is still forming, but Congressman Andy Kim (D, NJ-03) of Moorestown (Burlington County) hopped in immediately and built up a formidable seven-figure warchest virtually overnight; Tammy Murphy’s name recongition and personal fortune, however, could more than even the odds in a statewide contest and Kim’s base in South Jersey isn’t nearly as populous as the Northern Jersey counties where Governor Murphy boasts close internal party relationships.
Money aside, Tammy Murphy is accompanied by serious baggage besides the obvious necessity of needing to defend her husband’s own gubernatorial record.
For example, Tammy oversees the Murphy couple’s professional women’s soccer team which is no stranger to accusations fostering a toxic environment, and a recent lawsuit accused the First Lady of refusing to let nursing state troopers pump during their breaks. She also has expensive tastes and drew intense scrutiny after her hubby spent $500,000 on furnishings for the couple’s respective State House offices.
Bob Menendez has thus far refused to resign, but his seat is up in 2024 regardless of whether he changes his mind or the U.S. Senate intervenes and decides to expel him subsequent to a hypothetical development in federal criminal court.
