Sweeney considered running for governor in 2017, when Murphy was elected, but decided against it after Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop said he would forgo a run and endorsed Murphy. | AP Photo Sweeney won’t rule out primary challenge to Murphy

TRENTON — Senate President Steve Sweeney refused to directly answer questions Thursday about whether he would run in a Democratic primary against Gov. Phil Murphy in 2021.

“You’re talking about something that’s not in existence right now,” Sweeney told reporters at the Statehouse.


“Come on, guys,” he protested when pressed on the issue. “Listen, you know, it’s two — what, 2.5 years before the next gubernatorial election?”

Pushed again on whether he was open to challenging the fellow Democrat, with whom he has repeatedly clashed, Sweeney (D-Gloucester) seemed to make the case for his own progressive bona fides.

“I’m a Democrat,” Sweeney said. “I’m a Democrat who believes in taxing the wealthiest corporations in the world and the governor is somebody that didn’t want to tax them like I do.”

Sweeney was referring to last year’s budget deal, in which he and other lawmakers convinced the governor to impose a short-term surcharge on most companies. Murphy had preferred raising income taxes on millionaires.

Pressed one last time on the issue of a primary, and the fact he hadn’t ruled it out, Sweeney replied: “I didn’t say anything.”

The remarks come after South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross said in an interview with NJ Advance Media that he thought Murphy could face a primary challenge. Norcross is Sweeney’s chief political benefactor.

Sweeney on Thursday afternoon skipped a meeting with Murphy and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) during which the leaders were supposed to discuss a way to pass legislation to legalize marijuana. Sweeney said he had somewhere “more important“ to be.

“I had a meeting. It was a legitimate meeting. It was an important meeting,” he said. “And it was a very productive meeting. So I stayed in a meeting — in a meeting that I thought was just as valuable for the state of New Jersey.”

The political insinuations appear to be driven by the deepening feud between South Jersey political leaders and the governor over the state’s corporate tax incentive programs.

Murphy created a task force, armed with subpoena power, that is now examining how the Economic Development Authority administered the programs, who the tax incentive legislation was written for and whether any awards were the result of error or fraud.

During a public hearing last week, the task force focused its attention on credits promised to several companies that are run by or associated with Norcross, raising questions about its assertions that jobs are at risk of leaving the state.

Norcross has denied any wrongdoing and gone on the attack against Murphy, calling him a "liar" and saying the task force was designed to achieve the goal of "striking back" at him, Sweeney and others.

Sweeney considered running for governor in 2017, when Murphy was elected, but decided against it after Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop said he would forgo a run and endorsed Murphy.

Sweeney faced a general election challenge in his own legislative district that same year, with the New Jersey Education Association spending millions of dollars to boost his Republican opponent. Murphy, who was endorsed by the NJEA, made no public call for the union to stand down, angering Sweeney and others in South Jersey Democratic circles.

As the debate over tax incentives intensifies, becoming more personal by the day, Sweeney said he has no animosity toward the governor. But, he said, he is troubled by the governor’s actions of late.

He called the task force Murphy created to investigate the programs “slanted” and “McCarthyist” and said investigators are unwilling to listen to supporters of the tax credits.

“It’s like a McCarthy trial. They won’t let the people they’re accusing testify in public,” he said. “They have to submit written documentation. So what are you afraid of if his is a legitimate process. What are you afraid of? Why won’t you let the other side come publicly speak?”