As the Democratic field to succeed Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill continues to grow, Gov. Phil Murphy has waded in on behalf of Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill (D-Montclair), a close ally since Murphy’s first run for governor.
“As Mikie heads to Trenton, we need a new leader to keep up the fight against Donald Trump and his allies in Congress,” Murphy said in a statement. “For me, that’s Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill. Brendan has spent his career getting results – fighting for progressive values and helping to elect Democrats across New Jersey including me. Now, we need Brendan in DC to help lower costs, complete the Gateway Program, and protect our freedoms.”
A political operative with a long history of working for prominent New Jersey Democrats, Gill was Murphy’s campaign manager in 2017, a campaign that transformed the former ambassador and first-time candidate from political unknown into the state’s most powerful man. Gill, who has also been a member of the Essex County Board of Commissioners since 2012, remains close to the Murphy orbit.
Murphy’s endorsement, then, is not unexpected, and had been widely telegraphed even before its announcement today.
But it still does represent a snubbing of Murphy’s own lieutenant governor, Tahesha Way, whom the governor chose as Secretary of State in 2018 and elevated to her current role after the death of Sheila Oliver in 2023. Murphy maintains a positive relationship with Way, but her campaign for the 11th district – which was reported on last week but has yet to officially launch – came as something of a last-minute surprise to the state political world.
Nine other Democrats are running in the upcoming 11th district special election as well, among them former 7th district Rep. Tom Malinowski, who is making a comeback bid in a district that neighbors his old one. Murphy and Malinowski worked together during the latter’s four years in Congress, but Malinowski publicly broke from the Murphys in 2024 when he supported Andy Kim against Tammy Murphy for U.S. Senate, an endorsement that prompted recriminations on both sides.
It’s too early to say how the two-and-a-half-month sprint to the 11th district’s Democratic primary will shape up, but Gill is certainly among the frontrunners. His campaign got day-one endorsements from a huge number of Democrats in his home of Essex County, and he’s continued to add more supporters – including, now, the sitting governor – in the days since then.
