Credit: (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

WASHINGTON – Tammy Murphy said Sunday she would suspend her Senate campaign, pledging to help elect Democrats across New Jersey and clearing a path for Rep. Andy Kim (D-3rd) to secure his party’s nomination to win Sen. Bob Menendez’s seat.

Murphy’s abrupt decision, announced in a video posted online, came following months of back-and-forth campaigning with Kim, a three-term House member who has sought to elevate his candidacy in contrast to Menendez, who faces federal charges of taking bribes to help Egypt and Qatar.

A first-time candidate and wife of New Jersey’s governor, Murphy said to continue in the race would have involved “waging a very divisive and negative campaign, which I am not willing to do.”

Murphy named neither Menendez nor Kim in her video, though she pledged to work to elect Democrats “up and down” the ballot, adding that she “will not in good conscience waste resources tearing down a fellow Democrat.”

“Tammy Murphy has been a voice for progress and public service in our state, and I respect her decision to carry on that work as First Lady,” the Kim campaign said in a statement. “Tammy and I both agree that it is critical that we keep this seat, and the Senate, in Democratic control. Unity is vital.”

Tammy Murphy’s announcement

Democrats face a challenging task of holding the Senate, where they have a 51-49 majority, and have to defend more seats than Republicans, including in Arizona, Montana, Ohio, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and other difficult states for Democrats.

Murphy would have been the first spouse of a sitting governor elected to a statewide office in New Jersey and her candidacy drew complaints of potential conflict of interest in the party given her husband Gov. Phil Murphy’s role as head of the Democratic Party and state government.

Murphy, 58, was a former Goldman Sachs executive who donated to Republican campaigns until her husband began his quest for elective office as a Democrat.

Murphy vs. Kim

She and Kim were front-runners in the race to replace Menendez, the 19-year Senate veteran who has pleaded not guilty and vowed to be cleared of those charges after a jury trial planned for the summer. Menendez’s wife is also a defendant in the case.

Menendez has rebuffed calls from fellow Senate Democrats to resign and vowed last week to run as “an independent Democrat.”

Murphy’s decision comes days after Menendez said he may run as an independent candidate for the seat, depending on what happens at his trial, which is slated to start in May.

Menendez and Sen. Cory Booker, also a Democrat, avoided brief hallway interviews with NJ Spotlight News on Friday, the day after Menendez made his announcement.

And Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8th), Menendez’s son and a freshman in the House who is locked in a tight primary election fight, eluded reporters during votes on Friday.

“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 state,” Murphy said. “It’s time to unify, not divide.”

National attention

The race between Murphy and Kim has drawn increasing national attention in recent days, focused on how New Jersey’s party system selects and favors its preferred candidates.

Murphy had appeared poised to capitalize on that system, where party leaders and organizations award favorable ballot positions to their favored candidates. That system, long challenged by grassroots activists, is the subject of several legal challenges. Those party leaders are often in positions that can benefit from Gov. Murphy’s political favor.

Kim won several key county endorsements and appeared to be outdrawing Murphy for support. He raised $3.8 million to her $3.2 million according to the most recent campaign finance reports.

In a poll earlier this month from Monmouth University, Murphy was said to be the most well-known among the party candidates and Kim topped her in favorability.

New Jersey has not sent a Republican to the U.S. Senate since 1972, although it has elected three Republican governors to two terms each while shunning the GOP for a federal office from the state.

Voters will choose major party candidates on June 4.