New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy launches bid for U.S. Senate seat

TRENTON, N.J. (CBS/AP) -- New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy is officially running for a seat in the U.S. Senate. The first lady launched her bid for the Democratic nomination in next year's election as she looks to become the first woman elected to the Senate from New Jersey.

Murphy joins a Democratic primary that already features Rep. Andy Kim and could include Sen. Bob Menendez, who has lost significant party support amid federal bribery charges but has not ruled out a run in 2024.

"We need a senator who will work every single day to lower the cost of living, protect abortion rights, end the gun violence epidemic, and defend our democracy," she said in a roughly four-minute-long video posted online.

Murphy, 58, is a constant at events alongside her husband, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, and has taken on maternal and infant health and the environment as her top issues during her time as first lady — issues she highlighted in her announcement.

A Virginia native and University of Virginia graduate, Tammy Murphy worked in finance at Goldman Sachs alongside Phil Murphy before the couple settled in New Jersey. They have four children.

Democrats picked up at least five seats in the Assembly in this year's midterm legislative elections, a boon for the governor who is in the final two years of his second term.

Those successes could translate into critical county support for the first lady, who campaigned alongside the governor to increase their party's legislative majorities. A number of key county party chairmen set candidate ballot positions, and support from the county party frequently leads to electoral success.

Murphy is well known in New Jersey's political circles. Before the governor's first run for office in 2017, she worked to set up a think tank he used to showcase policy ideas. She is the honorary chair of the New Jersey Council on the Green Economy and launched Nurture NJ, an initiative aimed at boosting infant and maternal health and lowering maternal mortality, with a goal of cutting maternal mortality by 50% by 2026.

"So this is a milestone for women's representation if she were to be successful, to really break that glass ceiling for politics in New Jersey," Kelly Dittmar, a political science professor at Rutgers Camden, said.

Dittmar said a major challenge for Tammy Murphy: she was a Republican before her husband, Phil Murphy, ran for office.

"She will have to explain where that shift and when that shift in partisanship happened and reiterate to folks...here is where my agenda and positions are today," Dittmar said.

But switching parties didn't seem to bother some voters CBS News Philadelphia talked to.

"I think it's a good thing when someone has the opportunity to change because there has to be a reason for it and it could be positive," Lewis Troiano said.

"I would rather have someone honest than someone I don't trust," Linda Riccitelli said.

Tammy Murphy was named in a gender discrimination lawsuit this year brought by state troopers who worked on the detail responsible for providing security for the governor. The suit alleges that Tammy Murphy denied a trooper the use of a carriage house on Murphy's property to pump breast milk.

In a statement this week, she denied the allegations as "outrageous and categorically false."

Menendez has pleaded not guilty to federal charges. Prosecutors have said the senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, accepted bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car over the past five years from three New Jersey businessmen in exchange for a variety of corrupt acts. He's also accused of being an unregistered agent on behalf of Egypt.

He hasn't said whether he'll seek reelection in 2024 but said after being indicted that he's "not going anywhere." He was first appointed to the Senate seat in 2006 after the vacancy caused by Jon Corzine's election as governor of New Jersey. Menendez has since won three elections to the Senate.

"While Tammy Murphy was a card-carrying Republican for years, I was working to elect Democrats up and down the ballot and fighting in Washington to deliver for hardworking families in New Jersey," Menendez said in part in a statement. "I'll gladly put up my record of success on behalf of the people of New Jersey against anyone and am confident that when all the facts have been presented and my innocence proven, I'll continue to do what I've always done for the past 30-plus years — deliver results for the people of New Jersey."

Kim, a three-term representative from the state's 3rd District, announced his candidacy just a day after the corruption charges against Menendez, saying he believed New Jersey deserved better.

Menendez's indictment led to a collapse of Democratic support in the state for him.

In:
• Bob Menendez
• New Jersey
• United States Senate