Tammy Murphy

When New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy first went public with the fact that he was considering running for governor, his wife, Tammy, sat by his side for much of the interview.

"We’ve not made a decision, but we’re very serious,” Phil Murphy said at the time.

The “we’re” wasn’t just lip service to include his wife in the discussion. New Jersey voters would later learn that they didn’t elect just Phil Murphy. They elected a couple.

New Jersey has never seen a first lady like this. The state’s gubernatorial spouses have often taken on charity work or advocated for a cause. But Tammy Murphy, a 52-year-old mother of four, has an office in Trenton, a chief of staff, and, most importantly, the governor’s ear on policy.

“What Phil likes to say is you get two for the price of one,” Tammy Murphy said. “What I would say is, Phil and I have always worked together as a team across nearly every aspect of our lives.”

Tammy Murphy frequently commutes to Trenton with her husband and isn’t afraid of owning the spotlight at public events.

During the Women’s March in Morristown in January, she told thousands of protesters about her own experience surviving a sexual assault in college. The story dominated headlines from the event and overshadowed her husband’s speech, delivered just days after he was sworn in.

“Until today, only a few have heard my story. Now you all know,” Tammy Murphy told the crowd.

Early on, Tammy Murphy had planned to focus on the environment. But she’s since branched out a bit.

“One thing I’ve been working on as of late that really pulls at my heartstrings and is fundamentally wrong is Phil was concerned when statistics came out showing New Jersey is 47th out of 50 in terms of maternal death rates,” Tammy Murphy said. “So that has taken me down a path that I have not anticipated.”

But Murphy’s nonspecific portfolio, combined with her constant presence, has left some lawmakers wondering out loud whether her role should be more defined.

“She’s very smart, very intelligent and very passionate,” said Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald (D-Camden). “I think it would be easier for us to engage with her on issues if we knew what issues she was working on.”

It’s also caused political insiders to speculate that advocates turned down by the governor’s office might try for a more sympathetic ear from the first lady.

And Murphy’s presence in Trenton has already stoked some controversy. NJ Advance Media reported earlier this month that the Murphy administration used $13,000 in state funds to build a doorway in the governor’s office that would convert a conference room to a private office for the first lady.

The Murphys met when Tammy was a senior at the University of Virginia and interviewed for an internship at Goldman Sachs (Phil Murphy did not interview her, she said). But even though the two would later work together at the firm, they didn’t start dating until Tammy Murphy left it in 1994. They got engaged after just 18 days of dating.

Tammy Murphy’s role as first lady is whiplash from the style of Mary Pat Christie, who promoted several causes but typically left the talking to her husband, Chris Christie. Mary Pat Christie worked full-time in finance for much of her husband’s time as governor, pulling in a high-six-figure salary that allowed the Christies to live in a luxury Mendham house while sending their four kids to expensive private schools while her husband worked as a comparatively modestly compensated government official.

Phil Murphy, who made his fortune as a Goldman Sachs executive, needs no breadwinner.

“I’m in the fortunate situation where I have the time and, in certain areas, the ability to compliment him,” she said. — Matt Friedman

Headshot by Seth Wenig/AP Photo. Story photo by Mel Evans/AP Photo.