Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, the only declared candidate for governor in 2025, tweeted that First Lady Tammy Murphy “would be a good senator” as challengers to incumbent Bob Menendez (D-NJ) emerge following his federal bribery indictment.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Every couple years in late September it seems I do something that helps the Murphys politically,” Fulop wrote, referencing his 2016 endorsement of Phil Murphy instead of running for governor himself in 2017.
“I know social media feeds on critics but That said – to be fair if you look at Tammy’s work objectively she has been very engaged in NJ issues, poverty issues, infant mortality issues, disaster recovery, she is competent and would be a good senator.”
His remarks come after the New Jersey Globe reported that Tammy Murphy was fielding calls from Democratic leaders to run for Senate in the June 4th, 2024 primary.
U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D-3) and progressive activist Larry Hamm have already announced challenges to Menendez, who hasn’t explicitly said he’s running following the corruption charges being unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Fulop tweeted on Saturday that Kim is “a viable alternative” to Menendez who should not be taken lightly.
Whoever is the establishment pick for the Senate seat could have big implications for the governor’s race the following year, particularly if either U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-5) or Mikie Sherrill (D-11) decide to remain federal representatives.
The three-count indictment charges Menendez and his wife with conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color and official right.
They are accused of having a “corrupt relationship” with New Jersey businessmen Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes. Those three are charged with the first two counts.
Overall, the indictment charges that the Menendezes accepted corrupt payments for their mortgage, a 2019 Mercedes-Benz C-Class C300, $486,471 in cash, another $79,760 from the safe deposit box, two one-kilogram gold bars, and 11 one-ounce gold bars.
For the moment, the Hudson County Democratic Organization has chosen to remain neutral in Menendez’s case, with only Fulop and Hoboken 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher denouncing him after the indictment was unsealed.
Most of the New Jersey congressional delegation has called on Menendez to step down, with U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) not saying anything, calls joined by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
Menendez and Fulop have been on shaky ground since 2004 when they squared off in a lopsided congressional race, the first and only direct loss in Fulop’s political career.
His son, U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8), considered challenging Fulop for mayor in 2021, but ended up being the local party’s pick for Congress last year instead, a move that the Jersey City mayor supported.
The HCDO is in a potentially contentious situation with Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla signaling he may run for Congress, prompting Rob Menendez to come out and say he will seek re-election prior to the party weighing in on his father’s case or issuing any endorsements for next year’s races.
But wait! What about me, guys?
Can I be a Senator? I’ll let Rob Jr. have Congress if you guys support me for the other one. Deal?
We can easily use my Hoboken lapdogs and apathetic base who continually slurp up my Vision Zero, environmentalism, and social justice virtue signaling. We can even play the race card again!
Seriously guys. Give me a shot. There’s no question with Phil, EmEm, Big Jim, and Jose (who actually watches sporting events during council meetings on his cell phone!) we can control the narrative here. And I can get Rob to call into NYC media again. That’s huge.
I mean, just look at how blatant some of these and empty promises and outright lies the idiots in Hoboken actually believed:
-I’m going to build a Municipal Complex!! It will have a new police station. And let’s also throw the fire department in there. Oh! And a new city council chamber! That will get them to support it. And a library so we can pull a Boris Johnson such that anyone who searches ‘hoboken sanctuary city’ only gets Emmy’s stupid book thing. What else? A public pool of course! They’ll love it! So stupid. I promised them a pool at the YMCA. And 800 Monroe too. And now, “oh yeah, the downtown community center will have the pool. Totally.” And they *still* believe me! Morons.
-I’m going to build a downtown hotel! Oh yeah! That’s a done deal. Hey, unions! Vote for me! Hilton Hotel is coming! I promise I won’t do anything illegal. I’m an attorney after all. And I was only censured once too!
-We will find who did the racist fliers in 2017 helped get me elected. 100%. We have video of the guys and they did the same thing in Edison and have fingerprints, credit card details, and an actual confession. But they didn’t know my boy Grubir was AG baby! Suckers. So what? I had to give Ken job to keep him quiet. I may have pissed off Will, but I gave his partner a promotion even though she’a was 3rd in line!
-How about Union Dry Dock? All I had to do was pay one visit to Trenton. It was gross but that “over my dead body” quote really landed. Those idiots believed me! And now that they’re building out their permanent home (Jason worked out that I give them a ‘lease’ which really doesn’t mean crap) I had them eating out of my hand. Maritime Park, baby! They actually went to the public forums to chat about it! Holy cow! Lemmings! They believe anything with a pretty picture. I could seriously tell them a cow was a pig and they would believe me.
-Oh, yeah. I’ll resign my other job and only work as Mayor of Hoboken. Sure. I only need one job. Then I go and take another job in another law firm just after I’m reelected! And it’s my buddy Johnny Boy’s firm too! Haha. Suckers.
I could go on and one here guys. I even got to hire TWO public relations people from the media to control the narrative. And we pay John and other to publish posts for us. So here are my qualifications for Senator from NJ:
1. I can spin any lie and people believe me! I’m virtually untouchable.
2. I am brown.
Thank you for your consideration. Don’t make me come after Rob. It’s all I have here guys. Hoboken sucks and I need something more. Throw ‘ole Ravi a bone??
WTF is this BS now about handing a rich woman a Senate seat who is married to the NJ governor now?
Clowns, all of them.
How about an actual progressive who’s not a billionaire or millionaire or married to one?
Only Goldman Sachs people can run for office it seems in NJ
Wake up people the criminals are running every thing.
Come on people, the landscape is being written. Murphy’s law, if it can happen… it will!