NJ first lady Tammy Murphy after rough Senate primary: I'd do it again

New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy said Wednesday she would run for office again, even after a bruising Senate primary campaign that she abruptly ended on Sunday.

Murphy was once considered the favorite in the race to replace indicted Sen. Bob Menendez due to her support of New Jersey Democratic party leaders and fundraising abilities. But she lagged in polling and lost several early endorsement contests to Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.), who is now the strong favorite to become the Democratic nominee.

And Murphy faced intense backlash from within her party, often being portrayed as a Republican-turned-Democrat who leveraged her high profile as first lady to gain organizational support for the nomination.

“I would absolutely do it again,” she told reporters, the first time she's spoken publicly since dropping out of the race. “I didn't wake up any single day of my life and say, ‘I want to run for office.’ It wasn't that. I was literally asked by people who are on the ground.”

Barring any surprise departures, there are no imminent opportunities for Murphy to run for federal office and she did not say what she might run for in the future. Her husband, Gov. Phil Murphy, is term-limited and a handful of Democrats have announced their plans to run for his job in 2025.

Tammy Murphy has not made an endorsement in the Democratic Senate primary and declined to do so Wednesday. Aside from Kim, there are two other candidates, labor activist Patricia Campos-Medina and activist Larry Hamm.

“I'm not making any news today on that,” she said when asked about an endorsement.

The first lady said her path to winning the primary "was crystal clear," but that it would be a bitter fight — reiterating what she said in her social media announcement that she was dropping out of the race.

“The question was, would I be divisive? Would I sink into a swamp and start making personal attacks? And the answer is no, I will not do that. I don't think that's what our world wants,” Murphy said, at one point tearing up as she spoke about the race.

Murphy became the front-runner in the race after key New Jersey Democratic Party leaders backed her candidacy right as she announced her Senate bid. That means she would have had the so-called county line in a majority of the state — favorable positioning on the primary ballot given to candidates backed by county political parties.

But what should have been an advantage quickly backfired. The Senate race became dominated by discussion around the county line and New Jersey’s political process, where party bosses still hold incredible sway. Kim decried “broken” politics on the campaign trail, saying Murphy’s candidacy was a symptom of that.

Kim is suing to get a preliminary injunction to eliminate the controversial ballot design in the June primary, which could upend politics in the state.

“You all have been incredibly focused on process,” Murphy told reporters. “I have spent, since day number one, talking about policy. I'm talking about the things that are important to people. When they get out of bed in the morning. They're not asking about the process. They're asking, How do I put food on the table? How do I get my kids to school? How do I get myself to work?”