John Murphy

Morris County Freeholder John Murphy will seek re-election to a fourth term in 2006. Murphy, who is likely to make a second bid for the Republican nomination for Governor in 2008, made his announcement at a Freeholder work session earlier today. Murphy says he will not run on a slate with any other candidates in the June primary, although one of his advisors says he will back Christina Ramirez, a former Executive Director of the Morris County Republican Committee, in her bid for one of the two open seats. Incumbents Frank Druetzler and Cecilia Laureys are not seeking re-election.

John Murphy, whose third place finish in last year's gubernatorial primary earned him a spot on the short list of Republican candidates for Governor in 2009, must decide in the coming weeks whether he will seek re-election to a fourth term on the Morris County Board of Freeholders. Murphy's own advisors are split on what he should do: some are telling him to run again, that being an incumbent officeholder gives him added status in a statewide campaign (especially when the highest office he has won is a countywide post); others on the Murphy team tell him he is already a statewide candidate and not running again will allow him to focus his time on fundraising and making contacts across New Jersey. The last sitting GOP elected official to win election as Governor was William Cahill, who was in the middle of his sixth term in Congress when he won in 1969; the last Republican elected officeholder to win a U.S. Senate seat was in 1918, when Governor Walter Edge won.

State Senator Thomas Kean, Jr. appears to be the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate this year; he will become the second Kean family member to win a statewide primary as a sitting officeholder: his grandfather, Robert Kean, was a ten-term Congressman when he ran for the Senate in 1958; his father, Thomas Kean, had been out of the State Assembly for four years when he won the 1981 gubernatorial primary, and his great-grandfather, Hamilton Kean, had never held public office before winning a U.S. Senate seat in 1928. His great-great-uncle, John Kean, eleven years after losing a bid for re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives. Footnote: Most Keans lose a statewide contest before they win: Kean Sr. lost the 1977 primary, Hamilton Kean lost a 1924 primary, and John Kean lost a race for Governor in 1892.

Besides Kean Sr., Douglas Forrester in 2005, Christine Todd Whitman in 1993, James Mitchell in 1961, Malcolm Forbes in 1957, Paul Troast in 1953, and Alfred Driscoll in 1946 were not serving in public office at the time they won Republican gubernatorial primaries: Forrester had not served in public office since he left the West Windsor Council in the early 1980's; Whitman had left the Somerset County Board of Freeholders to join Governor Kean's cabinet; Mitchell and Troast had never held elected office (though Mitchell was U.S. Secretary of Labor under President Dwight Eisenhower) before they ran for Governor; Forbes resigned his State Senate seat to run for Governor full time; and Driscoll left the State Senate five years before he ran for Governor. Bret Schunder was the Mayor of Jersey City when he won the 2001 GOP gubernatorial nomination, James Courter (1989) and Charles Sandman (1973) were Congressmen, and Raymond Bateman (1977) and Wayne Dumont (1965).

Democrats are different: their last six candidates for Governor were holding elected office at the time of their nomination and election. The last time Democrats nominated an outsider for Governor was in 1973, when Brendan Byrne resigned as a Superior Court Judge to mount his first campaign for office.

Morris County Republicans have only lost once in a countywide election -- back in 1973 when Democrat Douglas Romaine won a Freeholder seat in the midst of the Watergate scandal. That gives them some room for optimism that they won't have too much trouble holding the seats of two Freeholders who announced this week that they would not seek re-election in 2006. But one political pundit who does work for both parties had an interesting take that's worth at least reprinting: that Freeholder John Murphy, a likely candidate for Governor in 2009, should use his political clout in Morris County to help the GOP, which has lost the last two gubernatorial elections and the last ten U.S. Senate races, to help expand the Republican base by promoting Black and Latino candidates for countywide office. New Jersey Republicans have only one minority county elected official: Aubrey Fenton, an African American who was elected Burlington County Freeholder in 2005.

Some Republican insiders are calling Morris County Freeholder John Murphy one of the leading candidates for the 2009 gubernatorial nomination. Murphy, who finished third in the June primary, was perhaps the only second-tier candidate to break out of the pack, and party leaders were impressed by his ability to carry Morris County over the two leading candidates, Douglas Forrester and Bret Schundler. Murphy's '05 test run that enabled him to develop relationships with party leaders across the state -- the last four elected Governors had run statewide before. Perhaps wisely, Murphy recognized that Forrester was unlikely to beat Corzine; his campaign team has been meeting monthly since the June primary to make plans for the '09 campaign and are in constant telephone contact. "John has been working the 'rubber chicken' circuit since June and has a tireless work ethic that immediatly puts him at an advantage at this early stage," a Murphy for Governor campaign staffer told PoliticsNJ.com.

"John Murphy ran a solid and well-respected primary campaign and I think its only natural to think he would be on the shortest of lists in 2009 if he decided to make another run," said Jeffrey Booker, the former Camden GOP Executive Director and a Forrester supporter in 2005. "His natural political skills are obvious and he would represent the GOP very well. His presence in a potential primary field would be greeted very warmly by the party's rank and file."

The other Republicans most often mentioned by insiders for '09: U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, whose record of taking on corruption as federal prosecutor has won him considerable acclaim; and Assemblyman Bill Baroni, whose pro-labor, pro-life positions helped him win a landside re-election bid in a Democratic-leaning district. Schundler has refused to rule out a third gubernatorial bid.

Editor's note: State Senator Anthony Bucco says he is "definitely seeking re-election" to the State Senate in 2007, and reports that he unsuccessfully challenged Leonard Lance for Minority Leader at the Senate Republican reogranization meeting last week.

Anthony Bucco's loss to Leonard Lance for Senate Minority Leader last week is leading some Morris County Republicans to think that the 67-year-old Bucco might not seek a fourth term in 2007. That would mean both of Morris County's Senate seats would be open in the next election.

If Bucco were to retire, there is no shortage of potential candidates to replace him: Assemblymen Michael Patrick Carroll and Richard Merkt and Freeholders John Murphy (who carried the district handily in his '05 run for Governor) and Freehold John Inglesino, the former Mayor of Rockaway. Murphy could find an interim stint in the Senate helpful toward his expected '09 gubernatorial campaign, if he were able to clear the field -- but a divisive primary, win or lose, could threaten his Morris County base. One Morris GOP insider said Murphy would be unlikely to run for the Assembly if Carroll and/or Merkt ran for Senate. Inglesino would emerge as the leading contender for an open Assembly seat.

Assemblyman Joseph Pennacchio is the favorite to win the 26th district Senate seat, where Robert Martin is retiring. Candidates are already lining up for the open Assembly seat: Jay Webber, who challenged Martin in the '03 primary; Richard DeAngelis, a former Morris County Republican Committee Executive Director who managed Murphy's campaign for Governor; Kinnelon Councilman Larry Casha, who ran against Pennacchio in a 2001 Special Election Convention; and Florham Park Councilman Joseph Morano.

I voted this morning and Hudson County being Hudson County, the only remotely competitive race on the ballot was for governor. I left the booth wishing there had been more choices, and then it hit me: there was a question on the ballot about whether the state should have a lieutenant governor. At least there's supposed to be; I completely missed it. I have far toomany senior moments for a 26-year-old, somaybe it's just me, but I'm wondering if other people missed the question too.

There's been very little attention paid to the lt. gov. issue, few newspaper stories and no slick ads. A polllast month showed the measure should pass. I guess this is because the average person's knee jerk reaction is to assume a post called "lieutenant governor" must be important and therefore necessary. I'm not so sure about that, but if this does pass, it will add an interesting wrinkle to the state's political game.

Think of a guy like John Murphy, who is seen as a potentially attractive statewide candidate but who was also priced out of the Republican gubernatorial primary. If we had a lieutenant governor, Doug Forrester might have turned around and tapped him as his running-mate. Win or lose, Murphy would have gained exposure and made invaluable political and fund-raising contacts for the future-- the kind of leg-up he can't otherwise get. The new office could turn outsiders into power-players.

And it works for both parties. How many women and minorities are routinely passed over for consequential posts by a predominantly white and male state Democratic leadership? But there'd be huge pressure for a Democratic candidate (assuming he's a white male) to fill out his ticket with a woman or a minority.

I can't think of one policy area that shows this state is crying out for a lieutenant governor, but hey, what's the fun of politics if we're talking policy?

Morris County Leaders Pledge to Fight for Forrester's 30%-in-3 Guaranteed Plan
"Only Doug's plan provides the property tax relief New Jerseyans need"

Gubernatorial nominee Doug Forrester took his Take Back New Jersey Tour to Madison today to stand with local officials and candidates who endorse Forrester's 30%-in-3 Guaranteed plan for property tax relief and pledge to fight for it.

Fred Hall, who has spent the last decade working on New Jersey GOP campaigns, is the new Communications Director for embattled Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher. Hall has his work cut out for him: Fletcher's approval ratings (38%-54%) have been McGreeveyish lately amidst a series of scandals that led to the Governor issuing pardons to nine members of his administration. Hall managed campaigns for State Senator Peter Inverso and congressional candidate Buster Soaries, and most recently worked on John Murphy's campaign for Governor. He once worked for The Strategy Group, the lobbying firm formerly headed by GOP State Chairman Tom Wilson. Hall is Fletcher's fifth Communications Director since the Governor took office in January 2004.