Who is Phil Murphy? Bio of candidate for governor
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Democrat Phil Murphy and Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno won their respective primaries Tuesday and will face each other in November. Here is a look at Tuesday's Democratic primary winner.
PHIL MURPHY
WHO HE IS: The 59-year-old is a wealthy former Goldman Sachs executive and President Barack Obama's ambassador to Germany. A Harvard graduate, Murphy was born and raised in Massachusetts and also has a business degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He served for more than two decades at Goldman Sachs, leading operations in Frankfurt, Germany, and in Hong Kong before retiring in 2003.
HOW HE WON: He overwhelmed attacks from five rivals comparing him to New Jersey's former unpopular Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine with more than $20 million in cash and backing from key establishment officials. He spent more than five times what his rivals did.
Murphy has never held elected office but paved the way for his run by founding a think tank and political organization aimed at building his name identification in the state and formulating policy ideas. Murphy has promised to get New Jersey's economy humming, to fully fund the state pension, ramp up education spending and rejoin a regional greenhouse gas alliance. He's also said raising taxes will likely be necessary and said he would hike rates on millionaires.
Murphy has promised to oppose Trump's efforts to defund so-called sanctuary cities and has pitched himself as a bulwark against the Republican White House. In his final television ad he also pledged to "draw a line" against the Trump White House.
FAMILY: Lives in Middletown, Monmouth County, with wife, Tammy. They have four children.