Gov. Phil Murphy, not surprisingly,  bypassed a chance today to comment on the Hudson County battle that is pushing Assemblyman Nick Chiaravalloti out of the Legislature.

Asked about it at his briefing,  the governor said he had a heart-to-heart private chat with Chiaravalloti this morning.

That was just about when Chiaravalloti said he would not seek re-election in Hudson’s LD-31. His original plan was to run again even though he was not endorsed by the Hudson County Democratic Organization and his local mayor, Jimmy Davis of Bayonne.

The governor said both the assemblyman and the mayor are friends of his. And he lamented that things between the two didn’t work out.

And he ignored an opportunity to weigh in on the Hudson tradition of allowing mayors to pick the assembly people they want.

The man anointed by the party as the next assemblyman is William Sampson IV. Murphy said he hasn’t met him yet.

Speaking of the election year upon us, Murphy was asked how much campaigning he planned to do between now and the June 8 primary.

“It won’t be the traditional big rallies,” he said. “But we’re taking it seriously.”

Murphy is unopposed in the Democratic primary so it’s certainly questionable how serious the governor needs to take things.