Kevin R. Wexler/NorthJersey.com/USA Today Network
Tammy Murphy speaks with supporters outside the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Hall, Local 164, where the Bergen County Democratic Party Convention is being held, Monday, March 4, 2024, in Paramus.
CNN
—
New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy is suspending her campaign for Bob Menendez’s Senate seat, she announced Sunday.
“After many busy, invigorating, and yes, challenging months, I am suspending my Senate campaign today,” she said in a video posted on X. “I have been genuine and factual throughout, but 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.”
“And with Donald Trump on the ballot and so much at stake for our nation, I will not in good conscience waste resources tearing down a fellow Democrat,” she added.
Murphy’s decision comes just days before a judge was expected to rule on a lawsuit aimed at kneecapping local bigwigs’ influence over party primaries and the nominating process.
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s vying for the Senate seat, had asked the court for a preliminary injunction banishing the so-called party line – a ballot structure that allows county leaders to give preferential placement to their endorsed primary hopefuls – ahead of the June 4 primary.
But the judge in the case was concerned, and the defendants had argued, that the time frame was too tight to make such a change. With Murphy dropping out, however, the urgency to address the primary ballot design is gone.
Kim is not expected to drop out of the lawsuit, which has two other plaintiffs, but it appears likely the decision will be put off — leaving the line in place for the coming primary election.
Menendez, who is facing bribery and obstruction of justice charges, announced Thursday that he would not run for reelection in the Democratic primary but again left open the possibility of an independent bid this summer. The senator has forcefully denied the charges against him and has said that he will prove his innocence while claiming that he is being persecuted by prosecutors.
Murphy, the wife of two-term Gov. Phil Murphy, entered the Democratic primary in November as a first-time candidate with previous associations with GOP politics. Her early endorsements in the primary, however, suggested she might get a plum spot on the ballot – and a potentially decisive advantage over Kim.
Under the party line system, party-backed candidates for a variety of offices appear in a single, prominent column on the ballot, whereas those who do not receive a place on “the line” are scattered across the ballot. Donald Trump’s election in 2016, and the resulting grassroots progressive activism, helped accelerate resistance to the party-line system, but it took off in in a major way once the Murphy-Kim primary started brewing.
This story and headline have been updated.