Photo by Alexandra Pais | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Don't Edit

By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Don't Edit

Phil Murphy will become New Jersey's 56th governor — and the first Democrat to hold the position in eight years — when he's sworn in Tuesday at noon at Trenton's War Memorial theater.

Here's a closer look at the man who'll succeed Republican Chris Christie:

Don't Edit

File photo

1. He's a former Wall Street executive and American diplomat.

Murphy, 60, spent more than two decades as an executive at Wall Street investment banking firm Goldman Sachs.

(Coincidentally, he'll be the first Democrat to serve as New Jersey governor since Jon Corzine, another former Goldman Sachs executive whom Christie defeated in 2009 — a fact not lost on Murphy's critics.)

Murphy was also a Democratic donor to candidates across the country. He served as finance chair of the Democratic National Committee in the mid-2000s. And in 2009, then-President Barack Obama appointed him ambassador to Germany — a position he held until 2013.

He has never held elected office before Tuesday, when he will assume what is arguably the most powerful governorship in America, with the ability to appoint significant positions like state attorney general and to line-item veto the state's $35 billion budget.

Don't Edit

Photo by Julio Cortez | The Associated Press

2. He beat five other Democrats and Christie's lieutenant governor to get here.

Despite his deep ties to the national Democratic party, Murphy was relatively unknown to New Jerseyans when he entered the race.

But after gathering much-coveted endorsements from county parties, he went on to easily win the Democratic nomination over five opponents — including two veteran state lawmakers — in June's primary.

Murphy then soundly defeated his Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, in November's general election to succeed Christie, who is leaving office with the lowest approval ratings for any governor in state history.

Despite Christie's low numbers, it was a race marked by apathy among voters, with polls showing many didn't know much about either Murphy or Guadagno. Turnout was 38.5 percent — a record-low for a New Jersey's governor's race.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

3. Yes, he's a multimillionaire (and yes, his money played a big role in the race).

Murphy and his wife made $4.6 million and paid about $1.5 million in taxes in 2016, their tax returns show. The couple made a combined $35.8 million from 2010 to 2016.

And Murphy donated a large chunk of his money — more than $1.15 million — to Democratic candidates and organizations in New Jerry since 2001. That led his opponents to accuse him of buying the party's nomination — something Murphy denied, saying he was simply trying to help build the party in the state.

Murphy also spent $21.7 million in the primary — or 64 percent of all the cash shelled out by all of the contenders from both parties. Of that money, $16.3 million was his own.

Don't Edit

4. His views are much different than Christie's.

While Christie governed with (relatively moderate) Republican views, Murphy campaigned as a progressive liberal.

He has vowed to strengthen New Jersey's gun-control laws, to fully fund the state's school formula and public-worker pension systems, to eliminate PARCC testing in schools, to raise the state's minimum wage to $15, to install universal pre-K and free community college, to institute a state bank, to raise taxes on millionaires and corporations, and legalize recreational marijuana. And he believes New Jersey should look to deep-blue California as a model.

Still, Murphy says his main goal is to create a "stronger and fairer" economy in New Jersey — and he argues that his finance background has provided him with the tools to help make that happen.

"I'm proudly progressive, but we're gonna grow this economy," Murphy told NJ Advance Media in a recent interview.

(Here's a closer look at where Murphy stands on key issues.)

Don't Edit

5. He will head a new era of Democratic rule in the state.

New Jersey — where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans by a 2-to-1 margin — will now have both a Democratic governor and a Democratic-controlled state Legislature for the first time since 2009. That was the year Christie defeated Corzine.

Don't Edit

6. Yes, he wants to legalize weed (but that isn't a sure thing).

Murphy hopes to make marijuana legal in an effort to raise revenue and improve the state's criminal justice system. Still, there are lawmakers leery of the idea.

Asked whether legal will happen in his first 100 days in office, Murphy told NJ Advance Media: "I don't want to marry myself to a particular day. But I would hope it's sooner than later."

Don't Edit

Photo by Patti Sapone | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

7. He also wants to raise (some) taxes.

Murphy wants to increase funding for public-worker pensions, education, and transportation. And to do so, he plans to raise taxes by $1.3 billion — which includes hiking taxes on millionaires, closing corporate tax loopholes, and legalizing and taxing marijuana. He says the hikes would spare the middle class.

The Democrat told NJ Advance Media that he's heard from residents who are worried. "I was just at a diner the other day with my wife grabbing a quick lunch, and a guy walked up to me and said, 'Please don't raise taxes on me,'" Murphy recalled. "Now, I don't know what the guy's circumstances are in life, but this is overwhelmingly a middle-class state. And I said, 'Listen, we're gonna do our best to get this state into the right place.'"

Some critics wonder whether he'll be able to find enough money to pay for all his plans.

Plus, some top Democrats have also questioned whether New Jersey can afford a millionaire's tax in the wake of the GOP tax hike that just passed Congress. And Christie's administration warned that it would cause residents to flee the Garden State, which already has the nation's highest property taxes.

But Murphy says he still expects a millionaires tax to happen. And he argues that if the state fully funds the education formula, towns across the state will see their property taxes drop.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

8. He's not a fan of Donald Trump.

Murphy has repeatedly spoken out against President Donald Trump and Trump's fellow Republicans who control Congress, saying it's up to governors to fight back at a state level. (Trump's approval ratings in Jersey are low.)

For example, Murphy has vowed to protect immigrants from Trump's policies, saying he'd even be willing to make New Jersey a "sanctuary state" — phrase drew some backlash during the campaign.

And he's threatened legal action to battle the GOP tax plan, which disproportionately hurts New Jersey by gutting the federal deduction for state and local taxes.

Don't Edit

Courtesy of Phil Murphy's campaign

9. He hails from Boston (and he almost became a musical theater actor).

It was something Murphy mentioned repeatedly on the campaign trail: how he grew up in a working-class family outside of Boston.

And originally, he wanted to go into musical theater. While at Harvard University, he was president of the school's famed Hasty Pudding Theatricals club. (He's pictured above with actress Candace Bergen during those days.)

But Murphy was graduated with an economics degree from the Ivy League school in 1979 and received his MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1983. An internship at Goldman Sachs pushed him into a finance career.

Still, Murphy's dancing ability was on display the night he won the election. He took an acrobatic leap on stage that went viral across the internet.

Don't Edit

Photo by Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

10. He lives with his family at the Shore.

Murphy has been married to Virginia native and former Goldman Sachs employee Tammy Snyder Murphy for 23 years. His wife was a fixture on the campaign trail — in public and behind the scenes.

The couple has four children and own a $9.6 million mansion in Middletown in Monmouth County. They pay about $200,000 in annual property taxes on the home.

They moved to the Monmouth County township in 2000.

Don't Edit

Photo by Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

11. His relationship with the state's top lawmaker has been an issue.

If Murphy wants to get anything done the next four years, he'll have to work with the Legislature, the body that makes New Jersey's laws. And so far, his relationship with the state's top legislator — state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester — has been rocky.

First, Murphy refused to take sides in Sweeney's fierce election battle against the New Jersey Education Association (the state's largest teachers union endorsed Murphy).

More recently, there was disagreement over a nuclear subsidy bill that died earlier this month.

But Murphy dismissed talk of a rift with Sweeney as "overblown." "We're not gonna agree on everything," he said. "But the fact of the matter is: That's the story of any human beings."

Don't Edit

12. He has been criticized for his relationship to unions. Exhibit A: the arbitration cap.

Murphy has also been accused of being too cozy with unions. Critics allege that's why Murphy didn't take a stance on a 2 percent cap on what police and fire unions in the state can win in arbitration, which expired at the end of a last year.

Republicans — especially Christie — said the death of the cap will lead to property tax hikes. Murphy said he was simply waiting for a bipartisan report on the matter that never came.

Murphy proudly says he's "a huge believer in organized labor."

"I think if you're a public-sector union, you've been beaten down needlessly, and promises have been broken," he said.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

13. He says fixing NJ Transit is a priority.

With NJ Transit plagued by delays and other issues, Murphy has called for top officials there to resign and for a complete audit of the agency. "We need new leadership," he said.

On Saturday, he spent the day riding NJ Transit trains to examine the system. "There's a lot of work to do," Murphy said.

Don't Edit

Photo by Alexandra Pais | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

14. His lieutenant governor is a veteran state lawmaker.

Murphy's second-in-charge will be Sheila Oliver, a longtime member of the state Assembly from Essex County who was once the first black woman to serve as the chamber's speaker.

Oliver will also serve as the head of the state's Department of Community Affairs and will take over as acting governor if Murphy is out of state or incapacitated.

Don't Edit

15. He's assembling a diverse Cabinet.

Murphy said he wants to have a Cabinet — the officials who lead the state's departments — that reflects New Jersey's diverse population.

Among his nominees: a man who could become the nation's first Sikh attorney general and another who could become the state's first Muslim cabinet member if he's confirmed as health commissioner.

Murphy has also chosen six women for top posts.

Don't Edit

16. He's good friends with Al Gore and Jon Bon Jovi.

Murphy's campaign was never short on star power. A slew of top Democrats — Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Hillary Clinton — came to New Jersey to stump for the former DNC official.



And in the final days of the race, Jersey rocker Jon Bon Jovi held a special mini-concert for Murphy in Asbury Park. The two are close friends and neighbors and have even vacationed together.

Don't Edit

17. He's a massive soccer fan.

The time the Murphys spent in Germany turned them into soccer fanatics. They often have family games. And Murphy co-owns Sky Blue FC, a professional women's soccer team that plays in Piscataway.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Read more about Phil Murphy

He's no Christie: Phil Murphy on weed, taxes, Trump. And making N.J. the next California.

Read our full interview with Phil Muprhy

Don't Edit

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.