After eight months as Gov. Phil Murphy’s chief of staff, Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti will step down, with Tim Hillmann, the principal deputy, emerging as the leading candidate to replace her, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.
Her departure date remains unclear, but Gutierrez-Scaccetti is expected to assume a senior advisor role to the governor, working on special projects.
Gutierrez-Scaccetti joined the governor’s office last October after George Helmy departed. She had previously served as transportation commissioner in Murphy’s cabinet for six years.
The timing of her departure coincides with the passage and signing of the state budget last month – and the passage of a landmark affordable housing legislation – and allows her to leave before Murphy begins a series of summer vacation trips and his attendance at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.
Her decision to leave was not entirely unexpected.
She has not particularly enjoyed the chief of staff post, staffers in the governor’s office have said. For Murphy, the transition from Helmy to a new Gutierrez-Scaccetti has not been seamless. Murphy had relied heavily on Helmy, who set a record as the longest-serving chief of staff in New Jersey history, and he had not developed a similar relationship with Gutierrez-Scaccetti.
Helmy had continued to play a key role the governor’s politics from his new private sector post at RWJBarnabas Health, New Jersey’s largest healthcare system.
But the decision to leave the administration was ultimately made by Gutierrez-Scaccetti, New Jersey Globe has learned.
She had considered retiring before being pressed into service as chief of staff; in 2021, Gutierrez-Scaccetti purchased a home in Tennessee, where her daughter lives, and had been planning to relocate.
The 65-year-old Gutierrez-Scaccetti spent 21 years at the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, including a stint as executive director.
Following the death of Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver last summer, Gutierrez-Scaccetti emerged as a serious contender to replace her before issues related to her residency complicated her potential appointment. A longtime New Jerseyan, she moved to Florida after Republican Chris Christie became governor to run the Florida Turnpike Authority, and returned to become New Jersey’s Commissioner of Transportation in 2018. The State Constitution mandates a seven-year residency requirement.
Hillmann, 35, joined Murphy’s staff as appointments director in 2019 after spending almost nine years as an aide to U.S. Senator Bob Menendez. His father, Fred Hillmann, was the chief political reporter for the Star-Ledger in the newspaper’s heyday, and later served as a top aide to U.S. Senator Bill Bradley and Senate Majority Communications Director His mother, Tracie DeSarno, is a prominent government relations executive.
Gutierrez-Scaccetti is Murphy’s third chief of staff. His first, Peter Cammarano, lasted about one year.