Sardonic Star-Ledger tells voters to hold their noses and vote for Murphy

The Star-Ledger has endorsed Gov. Phil Murphy for re-election, offering their double-edged support in a rant that skewers the governor’s record that still makes him more favorable than the Republican challenger, Jack Ciattarelli.

“This is a reluctant endorsement, an acknowledgement that Murphy is the best candidate on the ballot, nothing more,” the editorial stated.

But the Star-Ledger found greater fault with Ciattarelli’s opposition to mask mandates, support for changes to the state’s concealed carry gun laws, and policies they say are just cozying up to supporters of former President Donald Trump.

“All this is a shame because Ciattarelli is a smart man with good intentions and was once a reasonable voice in New Jersey politics. But he’s twisted himself out of shape,” the editorial stated. “He made the calculus that the Republican Party would not nominate the man he once was, that to win in the Trump era, the base wanted something uglier, shallower, meaner.”

So, the Star-Ledger is going for Murphy – “by default.”

“Still, he’s not Ciattarelli. He has scored some big policy wins, and he’s by far the best bet to steer us through the pandemic safely. In this race, that’s more than enough to be the best choice.”

The back-handed endorsement is no surprise. The newspaper has been in a running fight with Murphy since he took office, but their top executive acknowledged last year that the “Star-Ledger Editorial Board clearly leans left, as does New Jersey.”

The Star-Ledger has waned in influence since they won a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage a New Jersey governor more than sixteen years ago. Paid circulation has dropped more than 70% and their reporting staff is about one-third of what it once was. Their endorsements lack the potency they once enjoyed.

In 2009, the Star-Ledger endorsed independent Christopher Daggett for governor against incumbent Jon Corzine and GOP challenger Chris Christie, but Daggett received a mere 5.8% of the vote. Four years later, they endorsed Christie, but three months after the election, editorial page editor Tom Moran said he regretted the move.

Murphy has been endorsed by the New York Daily News and, in a cookie-cutter editorial, six of the state’s nine Gannett-owned USA Today Network newspapers: The Bergen Record, Courier News, Home News Tribune, New Jersey Herald, Asbury Park Press and Daily Record. Three of their newspapers – the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and Daily Journal – did not pick up the endorsement.