-- History - Philip Murphy Profile
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- Summary Philip Dunton Murphy was elected as the 56th governor of New Jersey in November 2017, easily defeating Republican Kim Guadagno by a 56% to 42% margin. In the 2021 election, despite polls taken just a few days before the election reporting that he had a comfortable lead ranging from 8% to 10% over Republican Jack Ciattarelli, the surprisingly close 2.2% margin of victory for Murphy raised questions over the strength of his public approval heading into his second term which commenced in January 2022 and undercut any national political role he might seek. A former U.S. ambassador to Germany and finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Murphy is a retired executive at the major Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs, from which he retired after a 23-year career with wealth estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. 
- Family and education Born on August 16, 1957, in Needham, Massachusetts, Murphy was raised in both Needham and nearby Newton. He is the son of Dorothy Louise (Dunton) and Walter F. Murphy. According to Murphy, his Irish-Catholic family was "middle class on a good day" that “lived paycheck to paycheck.” His mother worked as a secretary; his father, a high-school dropout, held a variety of jobs, including as a liquor store manager and as a for-pay pallbearer. Murphy enrolled at Harvard University, paying for his tuition and other expenses with part-time jobs and loans.While at Harvard, he was elected president of the school's famed Hasty Pudding Theatricals club, reflecting his early career interest in musical theater. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1979, he went on to earn an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1983. - Business career After his graduation from Wharton, Murphy was hired by Goldman Sachs, where he had worked as a summer intern while still in a Wharton student, and spent 23 years there. From 1993 to 1997, he headed the firm's Frankfurt office, with his responsibilities later expanded to oversee the firm's operations in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, as well as in the emerging post-Warsaw Pact economies of Central Europe. His later posts included serving as the firm’s president in Asia; global leader of the investment management division; and a member of the management committee and senior director. He retired from the firm in 2006 after a 23-year career, with his wealth estimated at that time in the range of several hundred million dollars, aided by the value of the stock issued by the firm in its initial public offering in 1999. According to tax returns for 2017 that Murphy and his wife Tammy released In October 2018, they reported income of $6.8 million, a 48% increase from the prior year. - Political activity After leaving Goldman Sachs, Murphy began to increase his involvement in politics. From 2006 to 2009, he was the National Finance Chair of the Democratic National Committee, where he worked with DNC Chair and former Vermont Governor Howard Dean. In New Jersey, where the Murphys had lived since purchasing a home in Middletown Township in 2000, he was appointed by Acting Governor Richard Codey to chair the New Jersey Benefits Task Force that in late 2005 made recommendations to deal with the underfunding of the state’s pension plans, which included raising the retirement age and selling publicly owned assets. * New Jersey Benefits Review Task Force Report (December 2005) - Ambassador to Germany President Obama nominated Murphy in 2009 as U.S. ambassador to Germany, where he owns a home in Frankfurt, where he served into 2013. He received initial criticism upon arriving to assume his post when he arrived in a chartered jet, sparking reports that Chancellor Angela Merkel privately remarked that he was just another in the series of wealthy American ambassadors who had gained his appointment through political fundraising and personal contributions. During his tenure in 2010, he also was forced to deal with the controversy following the leak of US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks. Some cables included negative statements by Murphy about senior German politicians, such as a remark by Murphy that Chancellor Angela Merkel was "insecure" and unfavorable comments by embassy staff about the German foreign minister. Although some German officials demanded that Murphy be recalled, he took responsibility for what he later said was an "incredibly awkward and embarrassing" incident and continued in his post until resigning in 2013. - Return to US Until his election as governor, he was the principal of the business management consulting firm Murphy Endeavors LLC, based in Red Bank. He has been involved in several charitable and nonprofit organizations, and was on the board of the national NAACP until stepping down when he announced his gubernatorial candidacy. Prior to formally announcing his candidacy for governor, Murphy also co-founded in 2014 New Start New Jersey, a tax-exempt non-profit organized under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code to study issues impacting New Jersey. Although he denied it at the time, later e-mails between Murphy and Hillary Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta disclosed by Wikileaks revealed that Murphy also saw the nonprofit as aiding his effort to enhance his visibility and name recognition for a likely campaign to replace Governor Chris Christie in the 2017 election. He also used his vast wealth to contribute to state and county political committees, as well as supporting local candidates for office and nonprofit organizations which could be helpful to his political aspirations.. -- 2017 Election
Murphy's path to securing the 2017 Democratic nomination for governor was eased when his two strongest potential opponents--Senate President Steven Sweeney and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop--each decided against launching their own campaigns. Murphy's success in forging alliances with key political supporters, including county Democratic leaders and such forces as the New Jersey Education Association, were significant barriers to both Sweeney and Fulop in countering the statewide political network that Murphy had put togeteher. With Sweeney and Fulop not on the ballot, Murphy easily won the Democratic gubernatorial primary election on June 6 with 48.4% of the vote, more than twice the margins of his closest competitors, former Obama Treasury official Jim Johnson (21.9%) and Assemblyman John Wisniewski (21.6%). Veteran state senator Ray Lesniak with 4.4% was the third-place finisher. and the field was completed by a pair of lesser-known candidates, former Teaneck firefighter Bill Brennan and Tenafly Council President Mark Zinna. Former Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver was nominated to run with Murphy as the Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor. Murphy also spent $21.7 million on his primary campaign--64% of all spending by all of the contenders from both parties. Of that money, $16.3 million was his own. In the general election, the Republican nominee Kim Guadagno, who had been elected as Lieutenant Governor under Chris Christie, faced an uphill race due to Christie's unpopularity, which reached record disapproval levels for any state governor, both nationally and among New Jersey voters, in the months of his final year in office. Murphy swept to a comfortable win, out-polling Guadagno by a 56% to 42% margin. Murphy's key staff for his campaign included his campaign manager Brendan Gill, an Essex County freeholder who also operates his own political and public affairs consulting firm, BGill Group. The campaign's media program was developed by AKPD Message and Media, headed by partners Steve De Micco and Brad Lawrence, whose previous clients included Democratic presidential and gubernatorial campaigns.Following Murphy's election, the roles of Gill, De Micco and Lawrence in operating New Direction New Jersey, a nonprofit raising money to support Murphy's policy agenda, also raised controversy when the group--despite Murphy's prior pledges--declined to identify its donors. * Murphy win puts spotlight on the guy who helped get him elected, 11/9/2017, NJ.com
* Murphy asked people to give money to group that backs him and keeps donors a secret, 1/9/2019, NorthJersey.com - Inauguration and Cabinet At Murphy's inauguration on January 16, 2018, he outlined what was described as a 'progressive manifesto' of proposals, including making four-year colleges more affordable and providing free access to community colleges; creating 'a process' to legalize marijuana; protecting 'hardworking immigrant families'; expanding investment in renewable energy and affordable housing; and ending tax breaks to 'a handful of select and connected big corporations.' As he took office, Murphy had the most diverse Cabinet--heads of the 15 executive departments--in the state's history, including the first Sikh to serve as a state attorney general in the nation and the first Muslim to serve as NJ health commissioner, as well as six women, the most of any of his predecessors as New Jersey governor. - Legislative conflicts Murphy's relationship with the state's top legislator--state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, has been the subject of speculation as a result of some high-profile conflicts. Sweeney's own ambition to run for governor was blocked by Murphy's success in securing key endorsements, particularly from county Democratic committees and major unions. One of those unions, the powerful New Jersey Education Association representing teachers and other school personnel, spent heavily to defeat Sweeney in his campaign for re-election to the Senate, a fight in which Murphy declined to come to Sweeney's support. In the 2021 election, however, Sweeney's shocking defeat for re-election to the Senate by a Republican opponent who spent little on his campaign removed Sweeney as a source of conflict within the new legislature taking office in January 2022, although Sweeney's post-election announcement that he would run for governor in 2024 allowed him as a private citizen new freedom to criticize Murphy. Other points of tension between the new governor and Democratic legislators, reportedly arose from a media campaign which a nonprofit political action committee supporting the governor, New Directions New Jersey, launched which praised Murphy's accomplishments, but omitted any mention of role of the Democratic legislative majorities in passing the initiatives. At the end of his first year in office, Murphy also reneged on a pledge to disclose the group's donors, with a spokesman citing a 'toxic political environment' for its decision. The failure to disclose its donors sparked wide criticism, along with cynics questioning the Governor's credibility in claiming that he had no way to force the group to identify its supporters. Partly due to these conflicts, Murphy was blocked in his key proposals to balance his first budget. The two major tax hikes he requested--an increase in the sales tax and a 'millionaires tax'--were rejected or watered down, replaced with a package of temporary hikes that undermined Murphy's pledge to set the state on a long-term path to fiscal stability, with half the new revenue of the package disappearing within four years. Other public disputes slowed adoption of such high-profile Murphy agenda items as legalization of recreational marijuana and increasing the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Murphy and Sweeney also split over a move by the Democratic legislative leaders to amend the constitution to alter the process through which legislative districts are re-drawn after the decennial census, a step which some analysts viewed as undercutting the influence of both Murphy and his key ally, state Democratic chair John Currie. As he ended his first year in office. Murphy's refusal to rule out potential tax increases in 2019 also promptly brought a sharp rebuke from Senator Sweeney. In 2019, perhaps the sharpest split between Murphy and Sweeney erupted over the Governor's creation of a task force to investigate the tax credit program of the state Economic Development Authority, which had been greatly expanded under legislation supported by Sweeney and signed into law by Governor Christie. The bulk of the credits awarded had targeted projects in Camden backed by wealthy insurance executive and South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross, Sweeney's childhood friend and his long-time political ally. Norcross aggressively fought back against the probe initiated by Murphy, with his team of high-profile lawyers challenging the legality of the task force, describing it as "McCarthy-like," and launching legal actions against the Governor and others leading the investigation. Norcross also issued a highly-unusual personal attack on Murphy and his wife, stating "He thinks he’s the King of England and Mrs. thinks she’s the Queen of England, and they don’t have to answer to anybody. And they’ve gone out there recklessly, stupidly and incompetently time and time again.” * Murphy 'stunned' at Sweeney's election loss: 'I do not welcome this in any way, 11/5/2021, NJ.com * Governor's feud with party boss rocks New Jersey politics, 5/21/2019, Politico.com * Non-profit tied to Murphy won't release donors,12/28/2018, NewJerseyGlobe.com * No new taxes next year, top Democrat tells Murphy — ‘Period. Full stop.’ 12/20/2018, NJ.com * Murphy, after budget fight, is boxed in by Sweeney | Moran, 7/8/2018, NJ.com * George Norcross: Murphy 'suffering from a Trump-like administration,' 7/10/2018, Politico.com * Murphy’s Brain Trust Launches Independent Spending Group, 11/20/2017, Observer.com - Katie Brennan and Alison Kopicki allegations Murphy also was forced in his first year in office to confront questions over hiring of key employees who had played roles in his campaign. The first controversy arose over Marcellus Jackson, who was given a $70,000 job in the state Department of Education, even though Jackson had been convicted years before on bribery charges while serving as a Passaic city councilman. When the situation became public, Jackson quickly resigned from his state position. In another case, Derrick Green, a political consultant whose firm had been paid $2 million by Murphy’s campaign and subsequently a state job paying $155,000 annually as a liaison from Murphy to minority groups, was reported to have previously been tied to a campaign finance scandal in Bermuda. Both the Jackson and Green cases provoked doubts over how thoroughly Murphy's transition team had vetted campaign operatives later given state jobs. The most serious charges, however, became public in October 2018 in an article published in the Wall Street Journal, when Katie Brennan, a Murphy campaign staffer later appointed as chief of staff of the state Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, alleged that she was raped during the campaign by Albert J. Alvarez, who was the campaign's director of Latin and Muslim outreach and subsequently was named chief of staff of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority, a position paying $140,000 annually. Brennan also claimed that her complaints to Murphy campaign and transition officials, as well as to the office of the Hudson County prosecutor, failed to lead to any action against Alvarez, who resigned his state position when he was contacted for comment about Brennan's charges as the Wall Street Journal was preparing to publish the allegations. "Several senior level members of the Murphy administration," Brennan charged, "were aware of my assault and failed to take meaningful action." Soon after the publication, Murphy announced he would launch his own investigation, headed by former state Supreme Court Justice Peter Verniero, an appointment widely criticized for Verniero's resignation from the Court as he faced potential impeachment for misleading the state Senate in testimony during his confirmation hearings as a justice. The state legislature then announced its own investigation led by Michael Critchley, a prominent criminal defense attorney most recently known for his defense of Bridget Anne Kelly, Governor Christie's former deputy chief of staff who was convicted for her role in the 'Bridgegate' scandal relating to the closing of access lanes in Fort Lee to the George Washington Bridge. The legislative report of its investigation was released in June 2019 and--in sharp contrast to the probe by former Justice Verniero--criticized key Murphy staff members for failing to adequately investigate the rape allegations by Brennan, charging that they 'seriously mishandled' the matter. In January 2019, a separate controversy arose when Alison Kopicki, director of policy in the state Economic Development Authority who previously served as deputy policy director on Murphy’s transition team,announced that she was resigning her post at because she faced retaliation for her speaking to the Wall Street Journal about her claims that Joe Kelley, the Governor's deputy chief of staff who previously also held a high-level post in the Murphy transition, had created a hostile work environment during the transition. Kopicki's letter of resignation contended that since she had gone public with her complaints, she had been excluded from meetings at the EDA and otherwise prevented from working on relevant projects.. * Murphy officials 'seriously mishandled' Katie Brennan assault allegation, inquiry finds, 6/5/2019, NorthJersey.com * With investigation looming, Gov. Murphy's office gives new details about hire, 11/8/2018, NorthJersey.com * Murphy says aide facing sexual assault allegation should never been hired, orders review, 10/14/2018, NorthJersey.com Murphy press conference on Katie Brennan allegations
- COVID 19 Response The COVID 19 Pandemic which spread rapidly beginning in early 2020 led to Governor Murphy taking extraordinary steps to confront its health and economic impacts. Among other actions, he issued a series of executive orders leading to closures or limited operations of schools, stores, restaurants, bars, gyms and other facilities and services. Over 200 deaths related to COVID-19 infections were reported at veterans nursing homes operated by the state government, which resulted in ongoing investigations and criticism of Governor Murphy's orders in the early weeks of the Pandemic that hospitalized nursing home residents be returned after discharge to their facilities. Murphy successfully advocated approval of $4 billion in state borrowing to partially deal with the shortfall in revenues created from the economic slowdown of the Pandemic. He also regularly appeared to brief the media and public on the extent of the crisis and its effects on the state's health care capacity and resources. * On COVID’s two-year anniversary in N.J., mixed reviews for Murphy and team, 3/4/2022, NewJerseyMonitor * How Covid-19 made New Jersey’s Phil Murphy the most powerful governor in America, 9/8/2020, Politico - 2021 election Governor Murphy announced his intention to run for a second term on October 1, 2020. In the primary election held on June 8, 2021, Murphy, easily won the Democratic nomination unopposed after his two primary challengers were disqualified. In the general election held on November 2, he faced Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli, Green Party nominee Madelyn Hoffman, Libertarian nominee Gregg Mele, and Socialist Workers Party nominee Joanne Kuniansky. Ciattarelli is a former member of the General Assembly, serving from 2011 to 2018, and was a candidate for governor in 2017, finishing second in the Republican primary election to Kim Guadagno, the Lieutenant Governor under Governor Chris Christie. In the general election campaign, Ciattarelli criticized Murphy's policies that increased taxes and spending, suggesting that Murphy's status as a multimillionaire made it difficult for him to understand the problems of most voters, and that his policies had driven taxpayers and businesses to move out of the state or avoid relocating to the state. . Despite polls taken about a week before the election reporting that Murphy held a lead of approximately 8 to 10%, the results showed a surprisingly close 2.2% margin for the Governor over Ciattarelli. Earlier polls also showed Murphy with strong prospects for re-election. A Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll released in June 2021 reported Murphy had a 15-point lead—48% to 33%—over Ciattarelli. A Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released earlier in the month showed Murphy with a 26 point lead—52% to 26%—over Ciattarelli. Murphy's narrow victory also undercut speculation that he could become a presidential candidate in the event that President Biden did not seek re-election, along with reports that the Governor might take a more moderate position in his second term on state issues such as abortion and gun control. * Will Murphy move to the center after narrow re-election? 11/4/2021, NY Times * Pollster: 'I blew it.' Maybe it's time to get rid of election polls. 11/5/2021, NJ.com - Accomplishments Despite his problems in securing approval of his fiscal and tax proposals and the evolving controversy surrounding the Katie Brennan charges, Murphy did succeed in fulfilling other initiatives. His approval ratings, which had declined in the first two years of his term, also improved in 2020 and 2021 as he took aggressive moves to combat the COVID-19 Pandemic. A Monmouth University poll in August 2021 reported that the Governor had a 54% job approval of surveyed voters, down 3% from May. His disapproval rating was flat from the prior survey at 36%.. In his first "state of the state" speech to the legislature delivered on January 15, 2019, the Governor took credit for accomplishments such as his signing of a gender equal-pay law, tightening gun use restrictions, gaining agreement to revise the state pension programs to save an estimated $400 million over two years, increasing funding of the state's school aid formula, eliminating use of the statewide student testing program, mandating earned sick leave. expanding access to medically-prescribed marijuana, and initiating a pilot plan for free community college tuition. He also called for reform of expansive corporate tax breaks, outlined in an audit he had directed to total some $11 billion, but lacking enforcement of corporate job-creation commitments. He also pledged to continue efforts to improve operations of NJ Transit. Murphy also acted to reverse some of the energy and environmental decisions of his predecessor Chris Christie. He returned New Jersey to the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative which Christie had renounced.He also sued polluters who failed to clean up properties in urban areas and repealed Christie’s Highlands septic rule that would have allowed expanded development. But other actions brought criticism, particularly his support of the controversial Exxon pollution settlement reached by Christie and the nuclear subsidy for plants operated by the Public Service Enterprise Group. - Family Murphy has been married since 1994 to Virginia native Tammy Snyder Murphy. Mrs. Murphy announced in 2023 that she would be a candidate for the Democratic nomination in 2024 for the US Senate seat held by Senator Robert Menendez following the Senator's indictment on federal charges including bribery relating to actions he took in aiding a real estate developer. Although the Governor and Mrs. Murphy met in the early 1980s when both were employed at Goldman Sachs, Murphy never asked her for a date for another seven years; but within 18 days after their first date, they were engaged, and six months later were married. The couple has four children: sons Josh, Sam and Charles Dunton and daughter Emmanuelle Medway. All of the children attended the Rumson Country Day School and speak fluent German, largely learned from their years living in Germany. Murphy and his wife own a mansion in Middletown in Monmouth County assessed at about $10 million on which they pay about $200,000 in annual property taxes. The upscale neighborhood along the Navesink River includes rocker and close Murphy friend Jon Bon Giovi and formerly was home to broadcaster Geraldo Rivera. They also have a villa in Italy, which sparked controversy when the family spent their vacation there in the summer of 2018, a stay which the governor initially declined to publicly disclose but which was discovered by the media. Murphy is the principal owner of Sky Blue FC, a professional women's soccer team that plays on the Rutgers campus in Piscataway. Murphy's ownership became a point of controversy when media reports in the summer of 2018 disclosed complaints by players and others over mismanagement, poor housing conditions and inadequate facilities for the team's players. Murphy denied personal knowledge of any problems, but stated that the conditions were unacceptable and called for changes ti improve the operation of the team. In November 2018, it was announced that the team would relocate its headquarters and playing field to a proposed new stadium to be a key part of a sports complex, hotel and retail development on a 200-acre site south of the Great Adventure amusement park in Jackson, but the announcement promptly brought criticism from environmental and conservation groups over the clearing of trees on the 200-acre site just outside the protected region of the Pinelands National Reserve. Soon after, the team announced that it would not proceed with the agreement to play at the new stadium. The Murphys have been active in diverse charitable programs, including supporting a help line for troubled teens. Murphy also has been an active supporter of his alma mater, the University of Pennsylvania. The Murphys also endow the Murphy Family Foundation, which has given between $1 million and $1.6 million annually since it was founded in 1993 according to public reports. - Public opinion Murphy's approval ratings, which had declined in the first two years of his term, improved in 2020 and 2021 as he took aggressive moves to combat the COVID-19 Pandemic, with a Monmouth University poll in August 2021 reporting that the Governor had a 54% job approval of surveyed voters and a disapproval rating flat from the prior survey at 36%. The surprisingly close November 2021 election results, however,, raised questions over the Governor's standing with the public as he entered his second term and undercut speculation that Murphy had potential as a possible future appointee to the Biden administration or a national candidate in 2024. * Monmouth University Polling Institute (10/27/2021 Poll reports 50%-39% Murphy lead over Ciattarelli) * Rutgers Eagleton Poll (11/1/2021 Poll reports Murphy 50% lead over Ciattarelli at 42%) * Rutgers Eagleton Poll (11/3/2021 reports Murphy job approval at 50%, disapproval 39%) * Poll shows double-digit lead for Murphy over Ciattarelli in N.J. gov race, 8/18/2021, WHYY.org * Rookie mistakes: Phil Murphy had a very bad first year as governor, Paul Mulshine, 12/30/2018, NJ.com * Editorial :Mediocre report card for Murphy in first semester,12/26/2018, Asbury Park Press |
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