New Jersey Democrats are searching for top-flight candidates to run for the seat held by Sen. Robert Menendez in 2024 — and perhaps the biggest name who has come up so far is Tammy Murphy, wife of Gov. Phil Murphy.
Menendez is rejecting calls from the party’s elite to step down after federal authorities charged him with taking bribes in exchange for helping Egypt and interfering with criminal investigations, and hasn’t yet said if he’ll run again. But state party leaders have urged him to step down and are looking for alternatives. Tammy Murphy hasn’t declared a run, but on WNYC’s “Ask Governor Murphy” call-in show, her husband acknowledged she’s had talks about the idea.
Two insiders privy to their strategy discussions say Democratic bosses want a woman to run, as a counterbalance to the disproportionate number of men already in the state’s elected offices. But political scholars, activists and those insiders say that speaks to a larger problem: There are few women who could mount a bid for higher office because the state’s powerful political machines have always protected entrenched interests.
And those entrenched interests are usually men.