He’s a millionaire politician who worked at Goldman Sachs for 23 years, rising to become a senior director of the firm. He’s compared unfavorably to his party’s last governor, another former Goldman executive whose one term was widely considered a failure. He’s poured at least $10 million of his own money into his gubernatorial campaign. In what The New York Times called “checkbook politics,” he’s contributed more than a million dollars to local Democratic candidates and organizations, paying off in endorsements from all 21 county party committees. And he’s very much a member of the Democratic establishment: He’s a former finance chair of the Democratic National Committee and ambassador to Germany under President Barack Obama. It almost goes without saying that he also has the backing of the state’s two Democratic senators.

Now he’s running against, among other candidates, the former chairman of Bernie Sanders’s presidential campaign in his state—and expected to cruise to victory. Sound familiar?

There’s no doubt this year’s Democratic primary for governor of New Jersey is rigged, in a figurative sense, in favor of Phil Murphy. Notwithstanding his background in banking—or perhaps because of it—the 59-year-old Michael Keaton lookalike is running on a strongly progressive platform with the strong support of organized labor. With just over a month before the primary, none of his opponents are within striking distance. And even that Sanders-supporting rival, Assemblyman John Wisniewski, hasn’t historically been quite the progressive he makes himself out to be. If nothing else, Murphy is proof that a Goldman Sachs background need not be disqualifying, if indeed it results in genuine progress for the party and for liberal policymaking.

The national press has largely ignored this race so far, focusing instead on exciting special congressional elections in Kansas, Montana, and Georgia, but the New Jersey campaign is undoubtedly more consequential. With the race to replace Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, a term-limited Democrat, expected to be a toss up, Murphy represents this year’s best profile chance to flip a seat from red to blue. The process by which he’s seeking the nomination may offend the party’s left wing, but maybe his success isn’t such a bad thing, given the state of the party on every level of government in America.

It’s easy to see why Democrats in particular, and the national media in general, have put so much stock in the aforementioned special elections. In Kansas, civil rights lawyer James Thompson ran a surprisingly competitive race with Republican Ron Estes, who now represents the district previously held by CIA Director Mike Pompeo. In Montana, a folk musician, Rob Quist, is challenging Republican Greg Gianforte to replace Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. And 30-year-old Jon Ossoff is in the running to win Newt Gingrich’s old seat against former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel.