New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy’s exit ‘fixes’ the primary election for Andy Kim, but a Latina millionaire could make it a contest if voters ignore Larry Hamm
New Jersey First Lady Tammy Murphy has withdrawn from the primary race for the U.S. Senate just one day before the petition filing deadline, effectively closing the door for alternative candidates to enter the race for the Democratic nomination to succeed indicted Senator Bob Menendez.
Menendez is not running in the primary, but last week he suggested that he would run in the general election as an independent candidate if he is exonerated of the myriad criminal corruption charges he faces.
Tammy Murphy, the wife of Governor Phil Murphy, cited her desire to avoid a vitriolic campaign as the reason for her departure from the Senate race although what she and most of New Jersey’s political establishment once assumed would be a juggernaut encountered strong opposition from warmongering Congressman Andy Kim.
In a video statement released just about 24 hours before the deadline, she expressed gratitude for the support she received but said, “it is clear to me that continuing in this race will involve waging a very divisive and negative campaign, which I am not willing to do
“I will not in good conscience waste resources tearing down a fellow Democrat,” said Murphy, referring to Kim, who is opposed to Medicare for All, student loan debt forgiveness, and an end to the slaughter of Palestinian children.
“Sometimes politics can seem very, very small. But right now our country is facing enormous challenges,” said Murphy. “Over the last several months, I’ve been offering my vision on how we might meet them. Because, let’s be honest, Washington is not getting it done. You feel it, I feel it. And above all, our children are feeling it.”
Her entry in the race stunted the Democratic primary landscape in New Jersey, leaving Kim to fend off two more genuine progressive candidates in the primary election.
Murphy did not name or endorse Kim in her announcement, but she did encourage party unity.
The decision also raises questions about the dynamics within the Democratic Party, as Kim is leading a lawsuit contesting the process for rigging ballots in the primary election but with Murphy’s exit, he stands to inherit the support of corrupt political bosses who control that system.
Murphy’s brief but notable presence in the Senate race drew attention to the inherent corruption in the state’s unique nominating process, which relies largely on the ability of power brokers to award preferable ballot position to their favored candidates.
Kim reportedly committed to running ‘on the line’ in counties where party bosses had designated Murphy to receive unfairly favorable ballot placement through New Jersey’s unique system of rigging primary election ballots.
Murphy had been seen as a formidable contender, leveraging her personal wealth and her role as First Lady for the year and a half that her husband has control over substantial amounts of money, disbursed in state aid, grants, jobs, and government contracts.
“Instead of talking about process and politics, my campaign has been about solutions for families and a vision for the next generation,” said Murphy. “New Jersey’s next senator must focus on the issues of our time, and not be mired in tearing others down while dividing the people of our party and state.”
“I’m making this decision because this campaign has never been about me, and right now I know the best thing we can do for New Jersey is to unite and focus on the real issues at hand,” said Murphy. “Right now, our kids are growing up in a world where fire drills are being replaced by active shooter drills.”
“A world where little girls have less rights than their mothers, and climate change threatens all of us,” said Murphy. “That’s what’s at stake in this election. And as we face grave, dangerous threats on the national level thanks to Donald Trump and far-right extremists, it’s time to unify, not divide.”
Political analysts suggest that her departure could lead to more intense competition among the remaining Democratic candidates vying for the Senate seat, as the focus now shifts to how the remaining contenders will position themselves and rally support in the wake of this unexpected development.
Patricia Campos-Medina has largely been shut out of debates and excluded from some meetings where local Democrats chose whom to endorse, including one in Camden County where the Latina candidate was physically blocked from entering.
“I knew exactly that I was going to be in this place, disrupting the plan of the machine to present only one woman option to the voters, and disrupting their plan that there was not a viable Latina who could run,” said Campos-Medina, who donated $2500 to the 2018 primary campaign of Menendez and was lauded by the Senator.
Campos-Medina makes a six-figure income as executive director of The Worker Institute, ILR-Cornell University, and her husband founded the nation’s third largest Hispanic-owned engineering firm before his company was acquired by TY Lin International and he retired four years later.
Campos-Medina makes a six-figure income as the executive director of The Worker Institute at ILR-Cornell University and her husband founded the third-largest Hispanic-owned engineering firm in the United States, which was later acquired for millions of dollars by TY Lin International.
Kim’s net worth sprang from about $250,000 to $865,000 during his first two terms in Congress but today it could be twice that amount. In each of his previous campaigns, Kim raised and spent significantly more than his self-funded millionaire GOP competitors in what is a telling revelation about the military-industrial complex that he serves.
On the other end of the income scale is People’s Organization for Progress Chairman Larry Hamm, who announced his candidacy on September 24, 2023, two days after Menendez was indicted for the second time and a day after Kim joined the race and started sucking up money, momentum, and attention like a vacuum.
Hamm, a longtime progressive activist challenged Senator Cory Booker in the 2020 Democratic primary, and his latest effort has coincided with his newly released memoir, Lawrence Hamm: A Life in the Struggle.
“The current system prioritizes wealth over democratic principles and hinders the ability for diverse voices to be heard in our political discourse,” said Hamm. “According to OpenSecrets.org, the average successful Senate campaign in 2016 cost $10.4 million – a staggering amount that many candidates cannot reach.”
“This financial barrier excludes numerous competent and passionate individuals who could bring fresh perspectives and innovative solutions to our government,” said Hamm.
From the fight to free Nelson Mandela to recent protests against police brutality, Hamm has been a champion for social justice while Kim served as a wartime advisor in Afghanistan to disgraced former General David Petraeus and at the White House National Security Council.
Murphy struggled to overcome concerns about her qualifications and nepotism, despite a long list of high-power endorsements from most of the state’s congressional delegation and county political bosses.
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