In a move that brings stability and gravitas to her campaign for the U.S. Senate, Tammy Murphy has hired Maggie Moran, a tough-as-nails veteran Democratic operative with a laser focus on winning and an unhesitating willingness to take a kill shot, as her new campaign manager, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.
The hiring of Moran and a 64% victory in Bergen County on Monday could mean the end of a shaky start for Murphy, who lost five county conventions and saw the departure of her first campaign manager nearly two weeks ago.
The decision of Moran to run another campaign indicates that Murphy and her husband, Gov. Phil Murphy, are going all in to win the primary against Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown), a three-term congressman and former Obama White House whose insurgency campaign has caught on with Democratic local elected officials, political insiders, and activists. Her presence at the helm of the Senate campaign could convince the Murphys to make a significant financial investment in the campaign, a move that might be necessary to blunt Kim’s evident surge.
“I have worked with Maggie before and know that she brings a wealth of experience in helping elect Democrats up and down the ballot and her knowledge of New Jersey’s political landscape is unmatched,” Murphy I am confident that Maggie will be a huge asset for our team as we continue to build a broad coalition of support throughout the state and give them a Senator who will prioritize the needs of New Jersey’s working families.”
Moran was the state director for two U.S. Senators, Frank Lautenberg and Jon Corzine. After Corzine was elected governor, Moran served as his deputy chief of staff and ran his 2009 re-election campaign. She later became a top official at the Laborers’ International Union Eastern Region.
The 49-year-old Moran has extensive experience running statewide campaigns in New Jersey and elsewhere. In 2018, she managed New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s re-election campaign, winning a hotly contested Democratic primary against Cynthia Nixon, whose grassroots support among progressives threatened Cuomo’s political career, with 65% — and a 60% win in the general election. She had also been an advisor to Cuomo’s 2010 campaign.
There were reports that she had been on an email chain that discussed discrediting some who had accused Cuomo of sexual harassment. But Moran had never responded to any of the emails and insisted she was not involved in preparing any responses on Cuomo’s behalf. She was essentially vindicated after being interviewed by the New York Attorney General’s office, but Moran and her firm were not named in an exhaustive report.
She later left Kivvit, the successful public affairs firm she helped build, and has spent her time working as a consultant in the Cannabis industry.
Moran has a long history in and around New Jersey politics.
After graduating from Douglass College in 1996, Moran worked as an assistant to Democratic State Chairman Tom Byrne before becoming the operations director for President Bill Clinton’s re-election campaign in New Jersey. She was also the state director for Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign and ran the state party’s coordinated campaign in 2001 when Democrats regained the governor’s office and control of the State Assembly. She was a longtime adjunct professor of Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University.
“I’m honored to join Tammy’s campaign and excited to lead her incredible team in her bid to become the first woman Senator from New Jersey,” stated Moran.
Kim has won secret ballot contests among party insiders in Monmouth, Burlington, Hunterdon, Sussex, and Warren counties, while Murphy has secured organization lines awarded by screening committees in Passaic and Union.
The next county conventions are coming up on Thursday night in Somerset and Cumberland.
This story was updated a 2:43 PM with comment from Murphy and Moran.