Murphy picks Brophy as new deputy chief of staff

Eric D. Brophy will succeed Joseph Kelley as Gov. Phil Murphy’s deputy chief of staff for economic growth, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.

Kelley, who joined the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey last week as a commissioner, is leaving the administration this month to pursue private sector opportunities.

Brophy joined Murphy’s staff fourteen months ago as a senior advisor to the governor for economic development after serving as the executive director of the New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority from 2018 to 2022.

Before joining the Murphy administration, Brophy was a partner in a Monmouth County law firm.   He was twice elected to the school board in Wall and was a delegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention pledged to Hillary Clinton.

He ran for a township council seat in Wall – he lost to now-Assemblyman Ned Thomson by 585 votes – and lost a 2010 bid for Monmouth County Sheriff to Republican Shaun Golden by 22 percentage points

Kelley, the finance director on Murphy’s 2017 gubernatorial campaign, has been Murphy’s point person on the state’s economic recovery from the pandemic and has been a critical player in developing statewide transit and international trade issues for the governor’s office.  He played a key role in Netflix’s decision to build a major film studio in New Jersey.