New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy abruptly announced Sunday she has dropped her bid for U.S. Senate, a stunning development in what had increasingly become a bitter and dramatic Democratic primary for the state’s seat currently held by indicted Sen. Robert Menendez.
Murphy, the wife of Gov. Phil Murphy, had been locked in a fierce and frequently rocky battle with U.S. Rep. Andy Kim for the party’s nomination to take over for Menendez, a fellow Democrat who faces federal corruption charges.
The 58-year-old Murphy was aiming to become the first woman ever to represent New Jersey in the upper chamber of Congress. Now, she leaves the race four months after entering it and two months before the June 4 primary.
“After many busy, invigorating and, yes, challenging months, I am suspending my Senate campaign today,” Murphy said in a three-minute video posted on social media. “I have been genuine and factual throughout, but it is clear to me that continuing in this race will involve waging a very divisive and negative campaign, which I am not willing to do.”
Her exit means Kim, a three-term congressman from South Jersey, becomes the frontrunner for the Democratic nod and possibly the November general election in a state that hasn’t elected a Republican to the U.S. Senate since 1972. The 41-year-old would be the first-ever Korean-American member of the Senate.
Murphy announced the decision after a meeting with several powerful Democratic county leaders in Newark on Sunday, sources said. She also privately called Kim to break the news, according to the sources.
The move allows Democrats to avoid the scars that could have come from 10 more weeks of a bruising primary fight in a blue state as President Joe Biden faces a rematch for the White House with former President Donald Trump and the party tries to hold on to a slim majority in the Senate.
It’s also a remarkable turn of events for Murphy, who had the backing of many of the state’s top Democrats. She leaves after facing backlash from progressive and grassroots advocates who flocked to Kim’s insurgent campaign and accused the first lady of nepotism and leveraging her husband’s power in New Jersey’s unusual and controversial primary ballot system — which is now facing a legal reckoning because of the race.
“With Donald Trump on the ballot and so much at stake for our nation, I will not in good conscience waste resources tearing down a fellow Democrat,” Murphy said, without mentioning Kim by name.
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The news comes a day before Monday’s deadline to formally file to run in the primary.
Patricia Campos-Medina, a labor leader, and Lawrence Hamm, a civil rights activist, are also running for the Democratic nomination, though they are considered long shots against Kim.
This also comes four days after Menendez announced Thursday he will not run for re-election in the primary but might still launch an independent campaign in the fall if he is exonerated in court.
Kim issued a statement Sunday afternoon calling Murphy “a voice for progress and public service” in New Jersey.
“I respect her decision to carry on that work as First Lady,” he said. “Tammy and I both agree that it is critical that we keep this seat, and the Senate, in Democratic control. Unity is vital. We will continue our efforts to strengthen our democracy in New Jersey while we come together to stand up against the dangerous agenda pushed by Trump.”
Gov. Murphy’s office declined to comment on the first lady’s announcement.
U.S. Rep. Andy Kim speaks to supporters as he kicked off his campaign for U.S. Senate in November.Joe Lamberti | For NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Kim, D-3rd Dist., launched his campaign in September, the day after Menendez was indicted for the second time in seven years.
Murphy, who has been a frequently visible part of her husband’s administration, announced her bid in November. She vowed to focus her campaign on gun control, abortion, and maternal health, a signature issue during her time as first lady.
Despite being a first-time candidate and a former registered Republican, Murphy was quickly considered a favorite in the race, due to her name recognition, her husband’s influence as governor, a prolific fundraising background, the couple’s deep pockets, and the endorsements of several leading county Democratic Party chairs who hold great sway over New Jersey’s primary process.
But that process, known as “the county line,” became a key focus as the race turned into a proxy battle between the progressive and establishment wings of the Democratic Party. Under the system, the only of its kind in the U.S., candidates endorsed by county parties get prominent placement on primary ballots and are usually heavily favored to win.
Several party chairs who backed Murphy do business with the state or hold jobs, which critics said gave them incentive to support the first lady and not run afoul of the governor. Phil Murphy still has two years left in office and will also oversee the next two state budgets.
Both Phil and Tammy Murphy have staunchly denied accusations of nepotism.
Murphy has received the line in most of the state’s large, vote-rich counties, where party leaders have the biggest say in who receives the preferential ballot placement. That handed Murphy a statistical advantage. Most of Kim’s colleagues in New Jersey’s House delegation also backed Murphy.
But Kim didn’t back down. Public-opinion polls showed him ahead and he secured several victories in Democratic conventions in counties where rank-and-file party members vote via secret ballot to award the line — including Murphy’s home county of Monmouth. Murphy parted ways with her campaign manager last month amid the tumult.
Kim, meanwhile, lambasted the county-line system as unfair and filed a federal lawsuit to abolish it, drawing national attention to the arcane setup.
The issue gained steam last weekend when state Attorney General Matthew Platkin — a longtime close ally of the Murphys — signaled he would not would not defend the line because he considers it unconstitutional.
Meanwhile, the four Democratic and Republican leaders of the state Legislature released a rare joint statement last week vowing to discuss reworking the ballot system. Skeptics said it was a sign party bosses are fearful the line, a major source of power, was set to meet its end.
The judge is expected to rule in the coming days on Kim’s request for an emergency injunction to block the system for this primary. Should the line be barred, it would make Murphy’s path to victory in the primary more uncertain. It also has the potential to upend Garden State politics in general.
Kim said Sunday he will soldier on with the suit, even though he has now agreed to take over lines in counties Murphy already secured — the same ones he is criticizing in court.
“This is not a system I want to participate in,” he said during a call with reporters. “I think it’s unfair. That’s why I’m trying to change it.”
Still, Kim said he will run on those lines instead of taking the “risk” that “someone else might get an advantage.”
Several Democratic insiders who were not a part of her campaign were not surprised by Murphy’s departure.
“There was no energy for her candidacy. The money was basically even and her only pathway was a significant personal investment to maximize a base vote,” said one, who spoke on the condition on anonymity. “White suburban Democrats were gone for her. There was no bringing them back.”
While not party to the campaign’s internal polling, the individual said Murphy, despite the endorsements of party chairs in Essex and Bergen, was going to have difficulty pulling votes in both those heavily Democratic counties.
The other big issue being raised by county chairs was the impact the fight between Kim and Murphy might have on down-ballot candidates.
Two sources said it appeared Sunday’s meeting with party leaders played a key role in Murphy’s decision to withdraw, which could take the urgency out of the lawsuit involving the ballot and make it less likely for the judge to toss the system, at least for this primary.
“They were very nervous,” one of those sources said of the county power-brokers. “If she is in there, no one knew what the judge was going to do and whether there would have been an 11th hour mandate to reprint the ballots. They are feeling unsettled by all of that. Suddenly, we have the four (legislative) leaders making a bipartisan statement.”
The source called the power-brokers’ support Murphy a case of “very smart people acting in a very stupid way.”
Several people with direct knowledge of the events said Sunday‘s meeting included Murphy, top advisers, and a handful of county Democratic chairs at the Newark law office of high-profile attorney Angelo Genova to discuss the tumultuous path the first lady faced in the rest of the primary. Another party leader called in via Zoom.
One source said the road ahead had looked “bloody” and “negative.” Instead, the source said, Murphy wanted to spend the effort helping Biden get re-elected.
Two sources said another major concern was the Murphys would have to pour a lot of their own money into a brutal race with an uncertain outcome.
The chairs “respected” Murphy’s decision, one source said.
Murphy privately called Kim to let him know the news and then called him back with the others on the room. Kim confirmed the party leaders asked him if he wanted the line in their counties.
“They did ask if I would sub in if Tammy Murphy were to make that decision not to run,” Kim said. “I agreed to do so.”
Kim said he and Murphy did not discuss whether she would endorse him.
“I wanted to be respectful,” Kim said. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for her in terms of how she handled today.”
One source close to Murphy downplayed the possible demise of the county line and how it could imperil Murphy’s chances, saying the campaign “genuinely felt” the path did not change much either way.
Still, former state Assemblyman John Wisniewski said that “had to be one of the considerations.”
”If there’s a decision (in the lawsuit) that even moderately modifies the effect of the line in a way that reduces its effectiveness, that is potentially a death knell for her campaign,” said Wisniewski, a former state Democratic Party chairman and gubernatorial candidate.
There was also the “looming presence” of an independent Menendez candidacy in the fall, which experts say could have siphoned votes away from Murphy, Wisniewski said.
Ben Dworkin, director of Rowan University’s Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship, said political observers had long noted that Murphy or Kim would need a huge influx of money to break apart what was otherwise going to be a very real street fight across the state.
“With her personal resources, Tammy Murphy had that ability, but nobody was sure she wanted to do that — to use her own money,” Dworkin said. “Now we’ve got our answer.”
Indeed, he said Murphy still needed to kickstart her bid and propel it forward.
“In a state where campaigns cost millions of dollars, an infusion of money to put yourself on New York and Philly TV to reframe the race would be necessary, but would still not guarantee victory,” Dworkin said. “People were waiting to see whether the Murphys wanted to, because of their means.”
For her part, Murphy said in her video that “instead of talking about process and politics, my campaign has been about solutions for families and a vision for the next generation.”
“New Jersey’s next senator must focus on the issues of our time and not be mired in tearing others down while dividing the people of our party and our state,” she said.
Meanwhile, Campos-Medina, one of the underdog candidates in the primary, said she was “surprised” by the first lady’s decision and said she understands “how hard it is to be a woman” in New Jersey politics.
“For 30 years, I have fought for union labor and will continue to fight for increasing the federal minimum wage and protecting workers’ rights and women’s rights to healthcare decisions,” Campos-Medina said. “I look forward to taking my message directly to voters who demand a voice and a choice.”
NJ Advance Media staff writers Eric Conklin, Susan K. Livio, and Ted Sherman contributed to this report.
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X at @johnsb01.