Using Murphy gaffe, Hugin attacks Menendez

U.S. Senate candidate Bob Hugin is using a gaffe made by Gov. Phil Murphy to attack U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez over taxes.

On Wednesday, a day after he had announced a new contract that would give 35,000 state workers raises, Murphy told reporters he didn’t know how much the raises would cost New Jersey taxpayers.

“I don’t know the exact number, but our folks are working on the program details,” Murphy said. “This used to be standard operating procedure in this state under both sides of the aisle.”

The governor’s office on Thursday released projections that say the raises will cost just shy of $150 million.

Though the figures are out, conservatives in the state are still taking shots at the freshman governor over what they say is witless negotiating.

“Governor Murphy’s definition of standard operating procedure is far different from my own,” Hugin said in a statement. “It’s not fair to hard working New Jersey taxpayers to enter the state into agreements without knowing their costs.”

After Menendez was admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee, Hugin had taken to taking stabs at him there, but with the Murphy gaffe, he’s pivoted to attacks over Menendez’s voting record on taxes.

“New Jerseyans are overtaxed here at home and Senator Bob Menendez, who has voted over 90 times to increase taxes, wants to raise taxes on them even more down in Washington,” he said.