NJ's next governor: Phil Murphy or Kim Guadagno

Mike Davis | Asbury Park Press

Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and Democrat and former U.S. Ambassador Phil Murphy won their respective primaries Tuesday, setting up an all-Monmouth County derby to become the state's 56th governor.

"Monmouth County rocks!," Guadagno shouted from the stage in West Long Branch, accepting the nomination. "But we didn't come this far to only go this far."

"Today, a lot of people had my back," Murphy said, accepting the nomination before a cheering crowd at the Robert Treat Hotel in Newark. "New Jersey, here's my simple promise to all nine million of you: I've got your back."

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The primary election results are unofficial, as reported by the Associated Press.

Murphy, a 59-year-old former Goldman Sachs executive, has been living in Middletown since the late 1990s. Guadagno, 58, who once served as Monmouth County sheriff, has been a Monmouth Beach resident since 1991.

Check out video of the candidates on Primary Day in the video playlist above!

“Monmouth County as a player in state politics — and a competitive area with competitive elections year in and year out — is something I think we can expect to see for a while,” Rider University professor Ben Dworkin said in an earlier interview.

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“It’s a growing county, it’s significant in size and Democrats and Republicans are running aggressive races against each other at all levels," he said.

The last time New Jersey elected a governor from Monmouth County was 1874, when Matawan native Joseph Bedle was elected to succeed Joel Parker, a lifelong Freehold resident.

The two candidates hosted only a few campaign events in their home county during the campaign. Instead, Murphy spent much of his time winning over support in the powerful Democratic strongholds in north and south Jersey.

Guadagno spent time wooing county Republican committees for their endorsement. In the end, every county put Murphy on their party line and all but six threw their official support behind Guadagno.

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“It’s certainly an honor for the county but we don’t think of (Gov.) Chris Christie only as ‘the governor from Mendham,'" Dworkin said. "We think of him as the governor of New Jersey."

But when they do visit Monmouth County? They play up the "hometown" angle.

"Monmouth County is personal," Murphy said at an Asbury Park town hall in September. "Monmouth County matters not just abstractly, because it's a big important county, but because it's where we sleep every night."

And Guadagno, when she announced her candidacy: "Standing here in Keansburg just blocks from the heart of where Sandy hit us the hardest we have more to do. And we can do better."

Primary primer

Both Murphy and Guadagno were overwhelming favorites in their races — making them the targets for extensive criticism from their rivals.

Murphy faced opposition from state Sen. Ray Lesniak, Assemblyman John Wisniewski and former Treasury official Jim Johnson, all of whom focused on his lengthy career as an executive at Goldman Sachs.

That career left him with a fortune, and he lent more than $16 million to his campaign. It led to complaints that he "bought" the election.

“While we may have our differences, we are all Democrats and we share a lot of common philosophical ground,” Murphy said on Tuesday night. “I look forward to working with each of them in the months ahead.”

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For Guadagno, it was endless barbs from Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, R-Somerset, connecting Guadagno to her boss, Christie.

With Christie's approval rating at a historic low, Guadagno spent much of the campaign distancing herself from her two-time running mate.

Nonetheless, the governor endorsed Guadagno outside his polling place on Tuesday, calling her the "best person in the Republican primary ... to retain the governorship."

Guadagno seemingly set off the first fireworks of the campaign during her own victory speech, criticizing Murphy's career at Goldman Sachs — nearly mimicking his Democratic opponents.

"The primaries have shown that my opponent represents the values of Wall Street while I stand for the values of Main Street," she said, before Murphy had even left the stage.

Staff writers Bob Jordan and Susanne Cervenka contributed to this report.

Mike Davis: 732-643-4223; mdavis@gannettnj.com

