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Tammy Murphy could have won a Senate seat, but the cost would have been too high.
“She had a path, she could have won this, but it would have been blowing our party up.”
That was the take offered this week by Gov. Phil Murphy during WNYC’s monthly “Ask Governor Murphy” show.
Down in the polls and facing a series of county convention defeats to Andy Kim, First Lady Murphy gave up her Senate bid in late March. In short, she never gained traction among rank and file Democrats.
The governor said his wife’s decision to bow out was a “tough call,” but she had party unity in mind.
“At every step of the way, she took the high road,” he said.
The governor’s point was that for the First Lady to win, she would have needed to run a costly, negative campaign against Kim, thereby dividing Democrats when party unity is needed for the 2024 general election.
Rather than do that, she stepped aside.
The conversation then drifted into a related issue – the “county line.” Or rather, the tradition of county leaders devising a primary ballot that gives a favorable position to endorsed candidates.,
The line for this year’s Democratic primary has been deemed unconstitutional by a federal judge, but an appeal is pending.
First Lady Murphy was endorsed by many party leaders, which invariably put her on the side of preserving the line or, if you prefer, the status quo.
Kim supporters generally opposed the line, thereby putting the First Lady on the defensive throughout what became a two month campaign.
The governor acknowledged that reality, but lamented the fact a somewhat arcane dispute over ballot make-up pushed aside substantive discussions about Medicare, the border and the Middle East.
Fair point, but Kim and Tammy Murphy did have similar positions on many issues. It was the process and charges of nepotism that separated them.
Still, the governor said of the line:
“I think it’s ridiculous the type of air time it’s gotten.”
He also defended the line and county endorsements as just an element of a broader Democratic Party organization.
With the legal dispute still going on, the governor said it’s an open question where all this ends.
And when it does, he said, ” Tammy will be there as First Lady, (but) she won’t be there as a candidate.”
The post Murphy: (Tammy) ‘Had a Path’ appeared first on Insider NJ.
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