- Associated Press - Tuesday, June 6, 2017

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.

The race also includes candidates from the Green and Libertarian parties and three independents.

Here is a look at Tuesday’s primary winners:

___

LT. GOV. KIM GUADAGNO

WHO SHE IS: The 58-year-old former Monmouth County sheriff and federal prosecutor is the state’s first lieutenant governor, a position that had been filled previously by the Senate president. She also serves as the secretary of state

HOW SHE WON: Guadagno emerged victorious on a promise not to raise taxes and almost constantly highlighting how different she is from the governor she stood behind for more than seven years, since they were first elected together in 2009. She compared Christie’s $300 million statehouse renovation plan to the Palace of Versailles and promised to scrap it. She said she opposed a transportation funding plan the governor enacted that also raised the gas tax. She contrasts the governor’s in-your-face style with public sector unions with her diplomatic approach, saying “yelling and screaming” won’t achieve results.

RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRISTIE: She’s generally been unsubtle in moving away from Christie, who did not weigh in during the primary until announcing Tuesday that he had voted for her, making her campaign slogan “better.”

Christie and Guadagno’s relationship has long been thought to be tense and has come up in the federal trial of two former aides to the governor who are charged with closing lanes to the George Washington Bridge as part of a political retribution scheme. David Wildstein, who has pleaded guilty, testified that the governor and lieutenant governor have had conflicts. Bridget Kelly, the governor’s former deputy chief of staff who has been convicted in the scheme, testified that the relationship was “stressful.”

FAMILY: Married to Michael Guadagno, a former judge. They have three sons.

___

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.

Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC.

Please read our comment policy before commenting.

Click to Read More and View Comments

Click to Hide