Murphy’s top aide ran a small town, advocated for legal marijuana

By day, Pete Cammarano got wealthy helping big-name companies like AT&T and Uber negotiate the complexities of policymaking in New Jersey. By night, he went home to Metuchen, where he dealt with more prosaic issues like traffic and downtown development as mayor of the Middlesex County borough.

Cammarano gave up both of those jobs to become the most powerful unelected official in New Jersey government as the top aide to Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy.

It will now be up to Cammarano to translate Murphy's ambitious campaign promises — legalizing marijuana, providing free community college, raising taxes on millionaires — into reality.

The odd-couple pairing of Murphy — tall and natty, with homes in Germany and Italy as well as New Jersey — and Cammarano — short and rumpled, who lives in his family home in Metuchen — will determine whether Murphy's outsider governorship can work the levers of power in Trenton.

It's a familiar role to the 53-year-old Cammarano, who also was chief of staff to Dick Codey when the then-Senate president became governor in 2004 upon the resignation of Jim McGreevey.

Codey described Cammarano, who was his top aide during his 14 months as governor, as "a short, roly-poly guy with a raspy voice who always dresses like it's a last-minute thought."

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When Codey left the governor's office in 2006, Cammarano became a lobbyist, assembling a stable of blue-chip clients in health care, utilities, technology, gambling and marijuana. His firm, CLB Partners, became the fifth-largest lobbying shop in the state, and Cammarano reached $250,000 a year in salary, according to state lobbying records.

Even so, associates said, Cammarano never fit the stereotype of a power lobbyist. He preferred watching his son play high school football to attending political fundraisers. He kept his old Acura station wagon, which now has 140,000 miles. And he never upgraded his wardrobe.

"He's through and through a Jersey guy," Codey said in an interview.

Codey said Cammarano surprised him only twice: first by running for mayor of Metuchen, then by heading the New Jersey Cannabis Industry Association.

"I didn't picture him as the go-to guy on marijuana," Codey said. "It just isn't Pete. It's not like he was rolling a joint in his office when things went wrong."

Cammarano said he never made any money from the marijuana trade group and characterized his interest in the issue as a matter of social justice: White drug users are far less likely to be arrested and prosecuted than non-whites. On that, his views line up closely with those of his boss — Murphy has made legalizing marijuana one of his top priorities as governor.

Cammarano described himself as a progressive and said he's in sync with his boss on "most or all" issues. People who have worked with Cammarano say he's an ideal chief of staff: steady and unflappable, with a dry sense of humor and a low-key style befitting his role as a behind-the-scenes operator.

"He was the most ego-less person ever," said Eric Shuffler, who was counselor to Codey and an adviser to Murphy's transition team. "He was a very calming, very reassuring presence."

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As chief of staff, Cammarano will serve as Murphy's top political adviser and liaison to lawmakers, as well as manage about 130 gubernatorial staffers. He'll be paid $141,000 a year.

Cammarano will wield outsized influence in Trenton, both because of the power of the New Jersey governor and because Murphy — a former financier, diplomat and political fundraiser — has never held public office in New Jersey, said Benjamin Dworkin, founder of the Institute for Public Policy at Rowan University.

"New Jersey's governor is constitutionally the most powerful governor in the entire country. This is not just any chief of staff. This is a chief of staff to a governor who has that kind of power," Dworkin said. "Pete Cammarano is going to be integral to the success of the Murphy administration because he's got the most experience of the folks who are coming in."

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Cammarano said he met Murphy in 2001 but didn't work with him closely until 2004, when the future governor led a task force on pension benefits during Codey's term. Unlike many other key members of Murphy's incoming staff, Cammarano did not play a role in the governor's campaign, nor did he donate to it.

For Cammarano, Murphy's job offer represented a chance to work on behalf of the public rather than specific clients, and to return to the familiar roles of policy wonk, troubleshooter and adviser, he said.

Cammarano's knowledge of the levers of power in Trenton is unmatched by anyone, said Bill Layton, a longtime Republican power broker who joined forces with Cammarano to form their lobbying firm.

"I am a true believer in public service," Cammarano said. "I love government. You actually have to run government as chief of staff in the governor's office. It's bigger than people think. It's tougher than people think."

As mayor of Metuchen, a community of 13,000 that calls itself the "Brainy Borough," Cammarano helped shepherd the development of upscale apartments downtown as well as stores including New Jersey's 18th Whole Foods location. The changes weren't universally popular, with some longtime residents decrying the loss of small-town flavor.

Some residents viewed Cammarano as too friendly with local business interests, although he burnished his progressive credentials by participating in the town's version of the Women's March on Washington, organized in response to Donald Trump's inauguration as president, and a local rally protesting a march by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia.

As mayor, a part-time job that pays $2,000 a year, Cammarano was seen as accessible and open-minded, the kind of politician who'd ride in a parade and then stick around to gab about traffic and other issues with constituents.

"He's the type of person who will listen no matter what the political affiliation," said Grace Shackney, a Metuchen activist who has served on panels on the arts and downtown development. "He would bend the ear of the governor on an issue even if it was a Republican constituent. He doesn't shut out anybody just because they aren't on the same side of an issue."