Who is Phil Murphy?

Philip Dunton Murphy (born August 16, 1957) is an American financier, diplomat, and politician serving as the 56th governor of New Jersey since January 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the United States ambassador to Germany from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama.

Murphy had a 23-year career at Goldman Sachs, where he held several high-level positions and accumulated considerable wealth before retiring in 2006. He is involved in many civic organizations and philanthropic pursuits. He served as finance chairman for the Democratic National Committee in the mid-late 2000s under Howard Dean. In the Obama administration, Murphy served as the United States ambassador to Germany from 2009 to 2013, during which time he dealt with the international fallout from the United States diplomatic cables leak.

While planning to run for governor, Murphy and his wife Tammy Murphy launched New Start New Jersey, a progressive organization active from November 2014 to December 2017, intended to increase his political visibility in the state. He defeated then-Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno in the 2017 gubernatorial election with 56% of the vote. In December 2019, Murphy became the chairperson of the Democratic Governors Association, a position he held for a year. He was reelected in 2021, defeating Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli with 51.2% of the vote, becoming the first Democratic governor of New Jersey to win a second term since Brendan Byrne in 1977. In July 2022, Murphy became the first National Governors Association chair from New Jersey.