Murphy to again lead national Democratic governors campaign group

TRENTON – Gov. Phil Murphy will serve a second term as the head of the Democratic Governors Association, adding a political post to his existing positions as governor and incoming leader of the nonpartisan National Governors Association.

Murphy will be the DGA’s vice chairman in 2022 and chairman in 2023, the group announced Saturday. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper will be its chairman in the coming year.

Murphy already served as DGA chairman in 2020, a cycle in which any political travel was restricted by the coronavirus pandemic. His party netted a one-seat loss, as Republicans captured an open-seat race in Montana.

There are just three governor’s races currently scheduled for the year Murphy will serve as chairman of the fundraising group: Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi. Next year is the big one for governor’s races, with 36 states electing governors at the same time as the national midterm elections.

“I look forward to working with Gov. Cooper to ensure the DGA has the resources necessary to be competitive everywhere, so we can continue to emphasize how Democratic governors deliver on the kitchen table issues that directly impact Americans’ daily lives,” Murphy said in a weekend statement. “That’s how we’ve won tough races before, and it’s how we will win again in 2022.”

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Murphy is currently the vice chairman of the National Governors Association and is in line to ascend to the position of chairman next summer.

Michael Symons is State House bureau chief for New Jersey 101.5. Contact him at michael.symons@townsquaremedia.com.