The Murphys want to protect their progressive NJ legacy — fueled by the line

March 29, 2024

Last week, the two leaders in The House of Murphy offered a unified, macro-defense of New Jersey’s county line system, which gave us a two-term governor from Goldman Sachs.

It is best summarized this way: Despite all the complaints from grassroots activists and progressives about the line balloting that gives endorsed candidates an unfair advantage in primaries, it still produced progressive leaders in New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy argued.

“I frankly think the line has served us pretty well,” he told reporters last week. “Progressives who are out there trying to look at whether or not they got a good government … I’d like them to find a more progressive government in America than what they got the past 6½ years, with yours truly elected twice.”

New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy, whose four-month campaign for the U.S. Senate went down in flames amid a grassroots uprising over the party line on county ballots, offered up a similar defense.

“I think what [the line] produces is whatever the machine needs to produce to stay in power,” said Julia Sass Rubin, a Rutgers professor and prominent critic of the line balloting. “In Murphy’s case, because he had the resources to run and he ran as a progressive, we got a progressive governor. That that’s not because of the county line system. It’s just sort of happenstance.”

Sass Rubin, who found that candidates for Congress between 2002 and 2020 who were granted the line enjoyed an average 38-point advantage over those who ran off the line, added, “Machines are about power and money. They’re not about ideas.”

NorthJersey.com, March 29, 2024

Recent Posts

Dan Kennedy (MCRP ’07): CRE Roadmap for Next Governor

As New Jersey prepares to elect its next governor, NAIOP NJ, the commercial real estate development association, has published a comprehensive roadmap for economic revitalization and sustainable development for the consideration of both candidates for governor. As a...

“Work Trends RU” Podcast with WorkingNation’s Jane Oates

This week's guest on the Heldrich Center's Work Trends RU podcast is Jane Oates, Senior Policy Advisor at WorkingNation. She and Dr. Carl Van Horn discuss WorkingNation’s mission, objectives, and accomplishments; the power of digital storytelling; the challenges of...

Zhang et al. Study Street-View Greenspace and Exercise

GPS-based street-view greenspace exposure and wearable assessed physical activity in a prospective cohort of US women Abstract Background Increasing evidence positively links greenspace and physical activity (PA). However, most studies use measures of greenspace, such...

NJSPL: Some College, No Credential Population in NJ

Overview of the Some College, No Credential Population and Educational Outcomes in New Jersey, 2023–2024 New Jersey State Policy Lab Supporting New Jersey residents in returning to college after leaving without a credential has been an increasing focus of the state’s...

Loh and Noland Explore Public Charging Station Disparities

Equal charging for all: Are there income-based disparities in public charging stations? Abstract We compare charging station accessibility for different income groups in the San Francisco Bay Area. Using a microsimulation model, we estimate charging station...