In a solemn post-election press conference, Gov. Phil Murphy promised to work for New Jerseyans with President-elect Donald Trump — and said he’s prepared after doing so for three years in his first term.
Murphy said he stood up to Trump’s first administration on issues like abortion rights and gun regulation but productively collaborated with the former president on the state’s COVID response and the construction of the Portal North Bridge project.
“Just as it is our responsibility to continue to stand up against any threat to our state or to our people, it is also our responsibility to take any opportunity that presents itself to work with the President to protect and uplift the people of our state,” Murphy said during his remarks. “Because that is what responsible leaders do.”
Tuesday’s election went about as poorly for New Jersey Democrats as one could have expected. Vice President Kamala Harris is up by 4 percentage points as of Wednesday afternoon, a shocking drop from President Joe Biden’s 16 percentage point victory. Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown) won the Senate election, but Sue Altman failed to beat Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) in the state’s sole competitive House race — and other House races were closer than expected too.
Murphy, who won a tight reelection race in 2021 by a margin of 3 percent, said during his Wednesday press conference that the 2021 race may have been “the canary in the coal mine.”
“It’s clearly economic, kitchen-table issues. It’s immigration. No matter what the facts are, it’s probably crime and public safety,” Murphy said. “And it’s time to look in the mirror and make sure [we’re] either changing substance, if it needs to be changed, or changing how we communicate what we stand for.”
The governor suggested Harris’ presidential loss was perhaps because voters didn’t know her well enough as the vice president.
“When we do have the data and we look at it, we’ll probably conclude, if I had to guess, that she wasn’t as well known as she would have been had she been out there for a couple of years, even as a sitting vice president,” Murphy said. “It’s a big difference between sitting as the No. 2 and going out there and being on the campaign trail.”
Murphy maintained that the Democratic Party is the party of Black Americans, Latino Americans, and women, but that Democrats should not underestimate Trump’s skills as a politician.
“No matter what you think of him, he has an uncanny ability to connect with people even when it’s not in their own interest,” Murphy said.
Murphy said he’s prepared to legally and politically challenge Trump should he take actions the governor thinks would harm New Jerseyans, like mass deportations.
“If it’s contrary to our values, we will fight to the death,” the governor said. “If there’s an opportunity for common ground, we will seize that as fast as anybody.”