Opinion: Will Gov. Murphy Be Reelected? Should He Be?

Phil Murphy is running for reelection as Governor of New Jersey and it's looking like he's going to be unopposed in the Democratic primary.

On the Republican side he could be facing Jack Ciattarelli or Phil Rizzo. Given the competition, can Murphy win reelection?

I would think after all that we've been through since Murphy took office on the promise that he would legalize marijuana, which he didn't, then signed countless public health emergencies giving himself absolute power in dealing with the COVID pandemic, New Jersey has more COVID deaths per capita than anywhere else, that there would be no way that he could win.

There's also the fact that, as Ed Farmer says on my Facebook page,

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"Since 1977 no Democrat has been elected to a second term as NJ governor. Since 1977 every time the country puts a Democrat in the White House, NJ puts a Republican in Drumthwacket."

But on the other hand, Murphy does or did enjoy a 58% approval rating according to a Stockton University poll, which means almost 6 in 10 New Jerseyans approve of the job that the governor is doing.

I had thought that Murphy would open up New Jersey by Memorial Day to insure reelection since we'd be coming off a summer of getting our lives back and businesses reopening to full capacity and seeing the profits they hadn't seen in years, but when I polled some people, they said it wouldn't make a difference. Given his approval rating along with what you're seeing and hearing, I asked, "Do you think Phil Murphy will be reelected as Governor of New Jersey?"

Here are some of the responses...