The Caretaker: How Phil Murphy Mastered the Machine He Promised to Dismantle
Governor Phil Murphy exits office falsely crowing about “getting the American Dream working for everyone.”
A forensic examination of his tenure reveals a more granular, Jersey-specific reality: the multi-millionaire former Goldman Sachs executive, who vowed to “turn the page” on the state’s notorious political machine, instead became its most polished and effective caretaker, preserving its power until external forces finally tore it down.
His story is one of a stark contradiction: a progressive policy agenda advanced through a boss politician’s playbook.
While signing landmark legislation on gun safety, environmental protection, and the minimum wage, Murphy’s political operations were marked by a careful, deferential navigation of the state’s entrenched power topography. He did not reach for a wrench to dismantle the machinery; he reached for the oil can, ensuring it ran smoothly for his purposes, even as its gears continued to grind against the principles of democratic fairness.
The Détente with the Dragon: George Norcross III
The defining test of Murphy’s reformist rhetoric was his relationship with South Jersey power broker George E. Norcross III. The governor entered office decrying the state’s multi-billion dollar tax incentive programs, engineered by Norcross allies, as “corporate welfare.” He wielded audits as a sword and launched a task force that delivered blistering criticism.
However, the promised political showdown never materialized. The conflict played out in reports and rhetoric, but a full-throated legislative or legal offensive to cripple the Norcross machine did not follow. The governor’s approach was one of tense but functional détente. The Norcross empire adapted, its influence over South Jersey’s economic and political life enduring. Murphy had stormed the castle gates only to negotiate a new toll agreement, choosing pragmatic stalemate over principled war.
The Monetization of Access: The Revolving Door
This pattern of assimilation extended to Murphy’s inner circle, epitomized by the trajectory of Brendan Gill. As Murphy’s 2017 campaign manager, Gill channeled the anti-machine energy that propelled his candidate to victory. Today, he operates a successful lobbying and consulting firm whose clients pay a premium for access to the administration he helped create. It is the revolving door spinning at its most conspicuous: a creator of the “new” politics now profitably brokering access to it, embodying the transactional culture he was hired to end.
The Architecture of Control: The County Line System
The true engine of boss control was New Jersey’s unique “county line” ballot system. This design allowed party chairs to bracket endorsed candidates together in a prime column, exiling challengers to a chaotic “ballot Siberia” and handing the anointed a decisive, often insurmountable advantage. Murphy did not merely accept this system; he actively courted its high priests.
His political survival was brokered by county chairmen like John Currie of Middlesex and LeRoy J. Jones Jr. of Essex. The transactions were clear. The reappointment of Kevin McCabe—a Currie ally and lobbyist—to a coveted seat on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was a classic piece of patronage. For their crucial support on the county line, Murphy offered not a fight to dismantle it, but patronage and a pass. He publicly defended the system, stating, “I frankly think the line has worked pretty well.”
This accommodation faced its ultimate test during the 2024 U.S. Senate race, when First Lady Tammy Murphy launched her campaign and quickly secured the coveted county line in several key counties, seemingly leveraging the very system her husband’s administration upheld.
The Judicial Earthquake
Then came the external blow Murphy never delivered. On March 29, 2024, U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi issued a monumental ruling, granting a preliminary injunction to scrap the county line for that year’s Democratic primary. The lawsuit was led by Rep. Andy Kim, who was competing against Tammy Murphy. Judge Quraishi found the system likely violated constitutional rights, imposing a “severe burden.” The state’s own Attorney General, Matt Platkin, had refused to defend it.
This judicial earthquake was affirmed by an appeals court. Faced with a defunct system, the legislature acted. In March 2025, Governor Murphy signed a law permanently banning the county line. He was not reforming the machine; he was presiding over its court-ordered funeral.
Conclusion: The Final Caretaker
The conclusion is inescapable. The defining structural reform of the Murphy era—the destruction of the boss’s primary tool—was achieved despite his accommodations, not because of them. It was secured by a rival candidate, affirmed by the judiciary, and forced upon the political establishment.
Governor Murphy mastered the ancient alchemy of Jersey politics, practiced in Route 1 steakhouses, where the base metal of reform promises is transmuted into the gold of incumbency. He proved the machine could be managed by a savvy outsider to deliver policy wins. But its final dismantling required a different kind of force—one that came from a courtroom, not the corner office. The governor who so expertly operated the machinery will be remembered as its final, most polished caretaker.