A little more than an hour after First Lady Tammy Murphy announced that she was running for his seat in the United States Senate, indicted incumbent Bob Menendez launched a counterattack, accusing Gov Phil Murphy of demanding his resignation to secure the Democratic nomination for his wife – and sought to connect Tammy Murphy with her husband’s record.
“When Phil Murphy rushed to judgment and called on me to resign, it was clear he had a personal, vested interest in doing so at the expense of core democratic principles — the presumption of innocence and due process,” Menendez said. “Governor Murphy has said he won’t appoint his wife to the seat, but why would he since there was never a need to? They believe they have to answer to nobody, but I am confident that the people of New Jersey will push back against this blatant maneuver at disenfranchisement.”
The Justice Department unsealed a bribery and conspiracy indictment against Menendez and his wife, Nadine, on September 22. Murphy met with key Democratic county chairmen in the afternoon and issued a statement calling on Menendez to step down.
Menendez also threw some grenades at First Lady Tammy Murphy, who announced this morning that she would seek the U.S. Senate seat even if Menendez runs. While her launch video does not mention Menendez by name, it does use footage of Menendez as she says, “Washington is filled with too many people more interested in getting rich.”
Instead, Menendez attacked Murphy for a brief period in the early 2000s when she was a registered Republican, making contributions to moderate Republicans like Bob Franks, Diane Allen, and the Rev. DeForest “Buster” Soaries.
“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.
Murphy contributed $5,400 to Menendez’s 2018 re-election campaign.
Menendez suggests that Murphy owns her husband’s record on affordability and deaths in state-run nursing homes for veterans.
“Mrs. Murphy will need to explain why she and the Governor believe that if taxes are your issue, New Jersey is not your state. Doesn’t every family and small business owner deserve tax relief and the ability to afford the state they call home? She will need to finally address why so many veterans died in state-run nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic and why the state hasn’t fully implemented a tutoring program to address learning losses with federal funding I brought back to New Jersey.
Both were themes for Republican Jack Ciattarelli when he challenged Phil Murphy for governor in 2021 and came within three percentage points of winning”.
Three-term Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown), a former Obama White House staffer and State Department official, announced last month that he would challenge Menendez in the Democratic primary.
A Public Policy Polling poll conducted for the Kim campaign shows him leading Murphy by 19 points, 40%-21%, with Menendez trailing with just 5% among likely Democratic primary voters and an underwater favorable rating of 10%-68%.
Former Newark school board member Lawrence Hamm is already in the race – his daughter worked for the Murphy administration and now works for a firm where Tammy Murphy’s campaign is a client — and Latina activist Patricia Campos Medina is also considering a Senate bid.
The three-term U.S. Senator had dismissed resignation as an option and remains defiant over his intention to stay in office. He has not said he will seek re-election.
“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,” said Menendez.
Over the last week, Menendez began speaking out against those who crossed him. He criticized former Gov. Richard Codey for endorsing Murphy and claimed Kim’s record doesn’t compare to his.