Tammy Murphy Throws in the Towel
After registering a disappointing showing in the Democratic Primary convention season, First Lady Tammy Murphy today ended her bid for the United States Senate via the social media platform X.
“After many busy, invigorating, and yes, challenging months, I am suspending my Senate campaign today,” she said in a video. “I’ve been genuine and factual throughout but it is clear to me that continuing in this race will involve waging a very divisive and negative campaign which I am not willing to do. … I know the best thing we can do for New Jersey is to unite and focus on the real issues at hand.”
Murphy received 62% of organization support, but obviously struggled in secret ballot convention voting, triggering alarm at all levels of the Democratic Party, as her chief rival, U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D-3) built people-power momentum.
Now Kim’s the frontrunner for the nomination.
Murphy’s candidacy appeared ill-fated from the start.
Offending primary voters who described her run for the U.S. Senate seat as a power play by the First Lady’s husband, Governor Phil Murphy, her campaign perhaps hit its hardest hurdle when the governor’s own Attorney General last week said publicly he would not challenge Kim’s lawsuit filed in defiance of the party organization line system that favors Tammy Murphy’s candidacy.
A federal judge will decide that case by the end of this week.
He is expected to rule in favor of Kim and against the First Lady, inflicting another cut.
By pulling the plug on her troubled candidacy, Tammy Murphy appeared today to get out ahead of that damaging ruling, as sources described dismay among Democrats at the federal level over the potential expense to the party in a battleground-heavy presidential election year.
New Jersey was already causing enough headaches for Joe Biden with sitting U.S. Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) spectacularly indicted and vindictively mulling a general election run as an independent.
This is major developing news.
From CNN: New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy is suspending her campaign for Senate in New Jersey, she announced Sunday.
Murphy was set to square off against Rep. Andy Kim in a June primary. Both announced their campaigns in the aftermath of the federal charges against Sen. Bob Menendez.
Murphy threw her hat into the ring in November to replace embattled Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, who announced Thursday that he would not be seeking the nomination as a Democrat while he battles federal corruption charges. But he left the door open to running as an independent, saying “hopeful that my exoneration will take place this summer and allow me to pursue my candidacy.”
Murphy dropping out of the race clears the path for Rep. Andy Kim to win the Democratic nomination.
End Citizens United // Let America Vote (ECU // LAV) President Tiffany Muller issued the following statement on First Lady Tammy Murphy dropping out of the U.S. Senate race in New Jersey:
“Today’s news is a direct result of the grassroots, people-powered campaign that Congressman Andy Kim has built. The people of New Jersey are ready for a new generation of leadership that puts government back on the side of working families. First Lady Tammy Murphy has done great work for New Jersey families, and she put up a good fight in this race. We’re proud to be the first group to endorse Andy Kim for Senate and we look forward to helping elect him this November.”
Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Curtis Bashaw today issued the following statement regarding Tammy Murphy’s decision to drop out of the race:
“Tammy Murphy is doing the right thing now that she knows her campaign doesn’t have a viable path, and I wish her well. This is the latest sign that voters, even Democrats, are sick of the status quo in Trenton and Washington. We don’t need more career DC insiders like Andy Kim. It is time for an outsider, an entrepreneur, a job creator to help take back Washington for the people who deserve better.”
Kim was doing an endzone dance prior to Murphy’s announcement.
Via his release on Sunday:
“This weekend, less than 30 days before vote-by-mail ballots will be sent to voters in New Jersey, people across the state saw one clear message from national and local news outlets: Andy Kim is the candidate with the grassroots momentum, and the strongest candidate in the final 10 weeks of the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate.
“Aside from yesterday’s appearance on MSNBC, highlights from media coverage this weekend includes:
Washington Post: In New Jersey, an insurgent upends a Democratic machine
Kim, 41, has turned the Senate race into something bigger than just a fight over who should replace the state’s senior senator, Bob Menendez (D), who faces a felony corruption trial later this year and is mulling running as an independent. Now Kim is trying to fight against the system of these county party chiefs, both through running to defeat their handpicked candidate, Murphy, and by battling in court to try to outlaw the “line” system.
“It’s more of a movement to try to restore power back to the citizen, to the voters, to the people. And that appeals to a wide swath,” Kim said.
I hope Congressman Kim’s first order of business is to re-unify the Democratic Party in NJ. He must realize we need a unified, motivated democratic party to win a general election. As great as the “ grassroots “ movement is, we need more to elect democrats. He needs to drop his all out fight with county organizations. Those organizations and leaders have helped elect democrats win the majority in both the senate and the house in Trenton.
I’m sorry to see her go. I thought she would have make a great senator……Now i’m behind Kim 100%
Tammy Murphy just pulled a “Steve FULOP”…..
Joseph Boyle, Andy Kim didn’t pick this fight and he didn’t attack Tammy. He is a gentleman and will do what is needed to bring the party and New Jersey together.
I didn’t say he attached Tammy…. I said he attached the county organizations . And he did pick that fight….hes suing !!!
As he should. So many self funded candidates for governor had the power to end the corruption of the line, but once they got inside the tent they saw no issues. The line structure is a huge reason for why NJ is so corrupt and so expensive to live in. I always say we have 3,000 state governments jobs held by 12 people. I am a good democrat, the line is a huge impediment
Kim is the easier candidate to beat between the two! The #1 issue is illegal immigration and the Border. Kim was one of only a handful in Congress to vote AGAINST deporting illegal immigrants who are charged with DWI! Pitiful!
Henry, as usual, you’ve got it all wrong. Murphy was the more vulnerable candidate simply because she’s the governor’s wife. Kim has a solid record and no baggage. He’ll make a great Senator. Go back to your Trumpian pompoms.
Kim is a radical leftist.
If Andy Kim is the type of radical leftist who cleans up broken glass from the floor of the capitol building after the thugs vandalized governmental property, then he’s the one to vote for. Look at his record and you’ll see he’s the one working to keep the country safe and productive. VOTE KIM! VOTE DEM all the way!
Kim will vote with failures like Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, George Soros, Schiff, Hakim Jeffries to destroy this country. The Democrat-Communist Party is the “PARTY OF DEATH”. They vote for abortion and murdering 55 MILLION children in the womb. They vote to open our borders resulting in violent murders of thousands of young women and men per year. They open out borders and allow Chinese and Mexican Cartel manufactured fentanyl to cross our borders to murder over 100,000 Americans per year with poison. They force Americans out of their own homes to allow illegal alien criminals to “squat” in our homes, and then honest, hard-working Americans are arrested for trying to remove them from their own homes. Democrats turn New Jersey into a sanctuary state where we give illegal aliens between $4-$5 BILLION PER YEAR in free entitlements, e.g., free healthcare, free education, free housing, free legal services, free foodstamps, free cash [$6.000/month], etc. while New Jerseyans can’t pay their excessive, confiscatory property taxes and have to leave the state to be able to live. No. Anyone who votes the Democrat-Communist Party line is a MURDERER and CRIMINAL stealing from New Jerseyans.
This reminds me of 1978 when Bill Bradley vanquished Dick Leone who was Byrne’s candidate. Alex Menza was the third hopeful. That same year saw Clifford Case lose his party’s nomination to conservative Jeff Bell. Does anyone remember the last Democrat to lose a general election contest for US Senate? It was Paul Krebs in 1972.
Hey Michael, At least Tammy didn’t have a repugnant out-of-touch vote on record, voting AGAINST deporting illegal immigrants who are convicted of DWI! As a campaign manager, I’d destroy him with that vote!
Andy and Tammy both would have been good. But he won because he won the line in a lot of places and it gave him momentum. Without the line, there would have been 10 candidates and they wouldn’t have to organize voters to win, they have to organize money to win. Without the line, Tammy would have walked to the nomination in June.