Gov. Phil Murphy returns from his European vacation this weekend to what will be a very busy fall season, including the choice of a U.S. senator.
Top of Murphy’s list is filling the pending vacancy of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez’s (D-NJ) seat, effective Aug. 20. That’s less than two weeks away and speculation has been percolating, inquiries have been made, and background checks are underway.
The last time this happened was in 2013 when then-Gov. Chris Christie selected his friend and then-state attorney general Jeff Chiesa to fill the senate seat made vacant by the death of Frank Lautenberg. Circumstances are a bit different here in 2024, there’s an election in a few months, and Andy Kim is the Democratic front-runner in Murphy’s own party.
Political columnist Charlie Stile said there’s lingering ill will between Kim and Murphy from the Democratic primary that saw Tammy Murphy’s U.S. Senate campaign crash and burn.
“The governor and his wife have never really been through a rock-’em-sock-’em campaign,” said Stile. “All indications are that they haven’t gotten over it. They resent it, so they’re not going to reward the people who punched them in public.”
Former Murphy Chief of Staff George Helmy is a name that has been mentioned prominently. He’s a safe pick if Murphy follows the Christie model, said Stile.
“One mind is [Murphy saying], ‘Reward a close confidante who basically was instrumental in stabilizing my administration and helping me pass through some of its big-ticket items,” Stile said. “It’s someone whom I trust.”
State Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington) said he’s a Helmy fan and would support that appointment. But he said Murphy should be thinking beyond that. He should be looking at history.
“If we are going to live our talk about being a party that’s a microcosm of our state, then I think it’s incumbent on the governor to look favorable upon a well-qualified Latina to serve in this role,” Singleton said.
Singleton is one of scores of signatures on a letter urging Murphy to appoint former U.S. Senate candidate Patricia Campos Medina to the seat. She would be the first woman, Latina and mom to represent the state as U.S. senator. Cuqui Rivera of the Latino Action Network also said Campos Medina would send a strong message, and be a pretty good senator.
“Patricia’s a natural, because she’s so completely accomplished when it comes to Latino issues and New Jersey and labor issues nationally,” Rivera said. “She’s just accomplished.”
But Campos Medina was also a Tammy Murphy critic, which may (or may not) be a disqualifier. Campos Medina says she’d happily take the position but hasn’t lobbied for it. She knows politics will likely guide Murphy’s choice, but said she wouldn’t change a thing.
“I took on the political process that anointed certain individuals over others,” she said. “That was not a new fight for me to have. I’ve been doing it as a leader of an organization that supports women to run for office. We needed an open process, a process that wasn’t weighed down by the [party] line. So that was the critique I had about the candidacy of Tammy Murphy.”
Of course, Gov. Murphy could surprise the pundits and pick someone out of left field. Insiders said there should be an announcement probably late next week. The person can take office, though, until he or she gets sworn in, and that can’t happen until the Senate is in session, which won’t be until September.
