N.J. First Lady Tammy Murphy Running For U.S. Senate

NEW JERSEY — Tammy Murphy, the First Lady of New Jersey as Governor Phil Murphy's wife, announced Wednesday that she is running for recently-indicted Robert Mendendez's seat in the U.S. Senate.

In her announcement video shared Wednesday, Murphy, 58, describes her journey from a child to a mother of four, saying that it is these experiences that motivated her to turn to a career servicing others.

"When I was pregnant, and even after [my children] were born, I worried about a million things, like all moms do," Murphy said. "But I never worried if I'd survive childbirth, or if my babies would get the care they needed."

Murphy continued: "I didn't have to. The money in our family's bank account, and frankly, the color of my skin meant I could get the best care available. But that's not the case for a lot of women."

"In New Jersey, women and babies were dying at a higher rate than almost every other state in the country," according to Murphy. "Almost exclusively in our Black and Brown communities."

Over a video of her husband being sworn in as governor, Murphy said that she became aware she had a platform "to help moms who aren't nearly as fortunate as I am," and so she "got to work."

The campaign video shows a mashup of news reports highlighting Murphy's work as an advocate for women with regard to infant and maternal mortality, including the statistic that New Jersey has gone from ranking #47 to #29 in maternal mortality since 2020.

"We've got a long way to go, but we've made real progress on this initiative and so many others," Murphy said.

Murphy—who as First Lady put climate change on the curriculum in New Jersey schools—said her plans for the state include a continued focus on the environment as well as gun violence and reproductive rights.

"We have big, complicated issues, and solving them won't be easy," Murphy said. "I'm running for United States Senate because we owe it to our kids to do better."

According to her biography, Murphy is a native of Virginia and graduated from the University of Virginia in 1987. She and her family now live in Monmouth County.