Another name surfaces as potential Menendez successor: New Jersey's first lady

As First Lady of New Jersey, Tammy Murphy has had a much more hands-on role than her predecessors, taking on a policy portfolio, occupying an office in Trenton and becoming her husband’s lead fundraiser.

Now, she’s talking to Democrats about potentially running for elective office — the Senate seat occupied by newly indicted Sen. Bob Menendez, according to three Democrats with knowledge of her discussions about it.

Murphy’s name has been floated for elective office before. But this appears to be the first time that she’s taking the prospect seriously.

At the same time, Democrats are aware that Murphy going for the seat — whether by appointment from her husband should Menendez resign, or running for it in a primary election next year — would be an ironic twist in the Menendez saga.

The senator, who’s accused of doing official favors for businesspeople, a developer and the Egyptian government in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of cash and gold bars, last year helped elevate his political neophyte son, Rob Menendez, to the House.

Menendez has pledged not to resign, though he hasn't said whether he still plans to seek reelection. If Menendez were to resign, Gov. Phil Murphy would be able to unilaterally appoint his successor for the remainder of the term, which expires in January 2025.

The Democratic insiders familiar with the discussions, who were granted anonymity while discussing internal deliberations amid a quickly-shifting political landscape, cautioned that Tammy Murphy is not close to making a decision on whether to run.

But they said that the talk has intensified because Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) has suggested in conversations with Democrats that she’s unlikely to pursue Menendez’s Senate seat and focus on running for governor in 2025. That could create an opening for Tammy Murphy — a well-known presence in the state and one of its top Democratic fundraisers — to run to become the first woman to represent New Jersey in the upper house. If she were to run, she'd likely face Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), who announced Saturday he'll seek the Senate seat, and possibly others.

New Jersey Globe first reported that Tammy Murphy was fielding phone calls about running.

A spokesperson for Gov. Phil Murphy’s office declined to comment. A spokesperson for Sherrill did not respond to an email seeking comment.

Though she’s never run for office, Tammy Murphy has developed a policy portfolio during her husband’s time as governor. She has spearheaded a major effort to reduce New Jersey’s infant mortality rate.

A Fairleigh Dickinson University poll from February found that Tammy Murphy had the highest name recognition of 10 ambitious politicians the survey asked voters about, at 73 percent, though a 43 percent plurality didn’t know enough about her to form a favorable or unfavorable opinion.

Murphy, a Goldman Sachs alum like her husband, is a former Republican who said she left the party over environmental issues and abortion rights.

“No one doubts she’s a formidable candidate. She’d be able to fundraise. She’s had issues she’s led on for years. She can connect with communities,” said one of the Democrats.

But Tammy Murphy has potential political liabilities as well. With Phil Murphy she co-owns a soccer team that early in Murphy’s first came under fire for poor living and practice conditions for its players, and was later named as one of several teams that was named in an alleged immigration scheme. A State Trooper lawsuit also alleges that she denied a member of the governor’s security detail the family’s carriage house to pump breast milk during breaks.

Phil Murphy said he couldn’t address that allegation directly because it’s ongoing litigation, but added “anybody who knows my wife, knows her values, knows what she believes in and stands for, would just hear what’s been said, alleged, and, I don’t know what the reaction is, they would probably find it outrageous — that would be a word I’d use — and completely untrue.”

Alex Wilkes, communications director for the New Jersey Republican State Committee, said criticism of Tammy Murphy is fair game. “She’s not a first lady who’s a little bit more ceremonial. She’s been brought into the fold in a lot of ways, on the business side and on the political side.”

Wilkes also hit on the nepotism angle to a potential Tammy Murphy Senate run.

“’It just feels like these things that belong to ‘we the people’ are these commodities to be traded among self-serving politicians,” she said.