Gov. Phil Murphy, in an appearance on Fox News on Sunday, said one of the lessons he learned from his closer-than-expected reelection race in November was that he didn’t do a good enough job explaining to voters how much good his policies are doing.
“I think the message for me is, we’ve got the right substance, but we have to get into kitchen tables much more deeply that we’ve gotten into,” he told Bret Baier.
“Folks have to understand why we stand for what we stand (for), how it impacts their lives, their kids’ lives, their futures. I think that is where the gap is, and I’m committed in New Jersey to closing that gap.”
Murphy indicated that closing that gap will be important in the midterm elections.
“I think, nationally, the races that we’ve got in 2022, we’ve got to make sure that folks understand why government is a force for the good, why the policies that we stand for are good for them personally and for their families,” he said.
Murphy credited his policies — and the coalition he built that supported those policies — for his victory over Jack Ciatterelli. Murphy won the election, 51%-48%, or by approximately 85,000 votes. Many other Democrats, including state Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford), lost.
“Thank God we put the policies in place that we did, that we built the coalition that we did; otherwise, we would have been swept away along with other Democrats,” he said.
Murphy, who heads the Democratic Governors Association, was noncommittal on the idea of running for president in 2024 — a question, to be fair, that is difficult to answer, since President Joe Biden has indicated he plans to run again.
“My nose is pressed against the Jersey glass, morning, noon and night,” he said. “I’m honored to be able to help out in these governor’s races around the country. But my commitment and my focus is entirely New Jersey.”
