Here is Something New Jersey Can Agree On: The New Governor Is Not Chris Christie

In 2012, Gov. Chris Christie went on a trade mission to Israel. He brought his wife, three children, mother-in-law, father and stepmother. The trade mission ended with a $30,000 weekend hosted — and paid for — by the King of Jordan. It was reported in the New York Times that while governor, he wanted to suck all the juice out of the orange.

When Gov. Phil Murphy went on his first trade mission in October, also to Israel as well as Germany, his schedule was stacked with back-to-back meetings.

"I was talking to people who were on the trip with the governor just recently and they were exhausted," said Tom Bracken, president and CEO of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. "The number of meetings, the length of the days, and the constant back-to-back meetings was very, very aggressive."

Bracken credits Murphy's business background at Goldman Sachs and his tenure as the United States Ambassador to Germany during the Obama Administration as key assets for a successful trip.

"There was much more emphasis on trying to attract direct foreign investment into the state and making business connections than some of the Christie trips," Bracken said.

Of course, the contrast between Christie and Murphy does not end there.  Their politics are also at opposite ends of the spectrum. Their personalities are just as different.

"I like him — he smiles a lot and he's friendly," said Jon Bramnick, the Republican minority leader of the New Jersey State Assembly. "I like that part, and he's affable." 

Murphy's approval ratings has held steady in positive territory during his first year. "The number one issue for most New Jerseyans is that he's not Chris Christie — which means that he's not in their face every day," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. "And I think that's a relief for most people, you know, just the fact that he is not trying to command the media with this kind of bullying presence is in and of itself a refreshing change for most folks."

Phyllis Salowe-Kaye, the executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action, has been involved in grassroots activism since the Newark teachers strike in 1969. Over the years, she's met with every governor, both Republicans and Democrats, until Christie.  But Murphy holds a special place in her list — he came to a backyard barbecue organized by WNYC at her home.

"Whether he sat in my backyard or whether he talks to me when we do a joint press conference — and  even though he comes from a totally different background that I come from — I truly believe that he gets what I'm about and what the people that I represent are about."

Salowe-Kaye is happy that Murphy has been called the most progressive governor in the country. And, in a recent interview, so was the governor.

"You don't make economic progress without social progress and you don't make social progress without economic progress. That's what we're doing," Murphy said. "So, it's funding Planned Parenthood, strongest equal pay law in the country, strongest earned sick leave law in the country, fixing NJ Transit,  funding education, reducing health care costs,  gun safety."

Murphy’s mantra is that he wants to make New Jersey’s economy fairer and stronger. Bracken says the governor is delivering on fairer, and now the business community wants to see stronger.

"The fair economy piece has been successfully implemented and I think that's wonderful," Bracken said. "But now we need to focus on the stronger side of the equation, because if we do not have a stronger side and a stronger economy than the fair components we'll just not be able to be realized."

For 2019, Bracken would like to see more focus on the business community. He also suggests taking the $5 billion tax incentive package that was promised to Amazon if it would build its second campus in Newark, and offer that amount to many smaller businesses across the state.

Bramnick, for his part, has little hope that Murphy will make New Jersey's economy stronger because he believes Murphy’s way of making the state fairer — providing better wages and earned sick leave, or taxing millionaires, also makes the state less affordable.

"The fundamental problem in this state is high taxes that is forcing people out," Bramnick said.  "I want to hear the plan that makes his state more affordable. If we do not hear that plan, I believe that it would be impossible for him to succeed as a governor. It’s as simple as that."

Murphy’s three priorities in 2018 were thwarted by legislative leaders in his own Democratic Party. A millionaires tax was enacted only on those making more than $5 million — a much smaller group. Legalizing marijuana has stalled, although it’s expected to eventually pass. And a bill to raise the minimum wage to $15 — possibly the most important issue to progressive activists — is being phased in over 10 years. Murphy has been criticized for not doing what it takes to get legislators on board with his agenda, primarily Democratic Senate President Steve Sweeney.

Murray, the pollster, says the governor doesn’t have the right staff to make up for his own inexperience.

"He brought in more ideological members of his staff. You know, people who really wanted to fight that progressive fight rather than just do the dirty work of the of the ins and outs in Trenton.

Murphy has heard the criticism but he says that's just what the reporters who cover politics say.

"First of all, no one on the street has ever asked me about my relationship with anybody in Trenton. Not one person," Murphy said.

The governor may be right that his relationship with Sweeney is inside baseball, but regular people do ask why legalizing marijuana or raising the minimum wage is taking so long.

And now Murphy has another problem.

In October, The Wall Street Journal published an article about Katie Brennan, who had volunteered on Murphy's campaign and filed a sexual assault charge against a member of the campaign staff who drove her home one night. That staffer, Al Alvarez, went on to work on the transition and was hired as chief of staff at the Schools Development Authority. The Hudson County Prosecutor declined to file charges against Alvarez, and it wasn't until the newspaper began making calls that he was fired from his job.

Now the legislature is investigating how someone accused of rape could get a high-level state job, and why he remained there until the Wall Street Journal came calling.

"I — and no survivor — should have to tell their story to the newspaper to be heard," Brennan testified before the committee. "I have access to people in the highest positions of power in New Jersey and at each turn, my pleas were not answered."

The governor‘s senior staff recently testified that they told Alvarez to leave his job, but they failed to follow up to see if he actually left. They also testified they shielded the governor from any knowledge of the rape accusation. Murphy has said he didn't know anything about it until October, but now he says he’s on it.

"I'm confident we will get there. It's an awful, awful wake up call, but God willing we can make something good come from this and that's what we're committed to," Murphy said.

The Brennan accusations are a bigger problem for the governor because he has staked a claim as a progressive who is fighting for women’s rights, says Patrick Murray.

"The fact that the legislature is really not going to let go of it until they dig as deep as they possibly can could be a little troubling for Governor Murphy," Murray said. "It remains to be seen, but there's no question that this is a threat that does hang over him."

If the Brennan case is a dark cloud hanging over Murphy, there was a bright spot just as the legislature was leaving for its Christmas break. He defeated the Democratic leadership on a controversial redistricting plan with help from a huge grassroots coalition.

"The redistricting was all about power," said Salowe-Kaye of Citizen Action. The opposition included many of the new activist groups that formed after the Trump election and helped unseat Republican congressmen in New Jersey.

"I have to believe that that sent a very clear message that this is not what is acceptable as we move into the next two years," she said.