Murphy to ‘stump’ for Davis in Bayonne

Gov. Phil Murphy will visit Bayonne tomorrow to appear with Mayor Jimmy Davis, who is seeking re-election to a second term in Tuesday’s non-partisan municipal election.

Murphy has not officially taken sides in the race, but his non-political appearance with the incumbent is viewed as a wink-and-nod to the Democratic stronghold city that he prefers for Davis to be re-elected.  His appearance also comes after POLITICO disclosed that New Jersey Building and Construction Trades president Bill Mullen has asked his members not to contribute to a Murphy-allied non-profit that is advocating in favor of the governor’s legislative agenda.  The building trades, including the Laborers, Operating Engineers and Carpenters unions, are all in for challenger Jason O’Donnell, a former Assemblyman.

One insider suggested that while Murphy will say his tour of a new waterfront walkway is a governmental appearance, it will be impossible for the governor to deflect the image that this is anything but a defacto endorsement.

Update: Murphy, Davis, State Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-Jersey City) and Assemblyman Nicholas Chiaravalloti will announce $1 million in state funding to construct a new waterfront walkway and public park.  A media advisory says that Green Acres monies and a settlement fund from Passaic River pollution lawsuits will be used to pay for the project.

When reached for comment, O’Donnell said: “We’ve gotten a lot of calls from interested supporters throughout Bayonne and across the State.  I’ll tell you what I told them.  He is the governor, it is obviously his prerogative to do whatever he wants to do.  If he wants to come up to Hudson County four days before a non-partisan election and walk around with my opponent to announce what amounts to less money than the average Jimmy Davis taxpayer funded lawsuit settlement then that is also his prerogative.  Perhaps while Governor Murphy is up here in Bayonne tomorrow morning Jimmy can walk him through all the damage he’s done to City taxpayers with his 40 multi-million dollar tax breaks for his rich out of town friends.  He can also explain to Governor Murphy why he didn’t include one Project Labor Agreement or even one affordable housing unit in those PILOT agreements.  At a minimum, Mayor Davis should walk the governor through the thought process that allowed him to waive prevailing wage on projects and shortchange our children’s educations for decades.”