NJ governor goes for neutrality filling Menendez’s seat while downplaying rift with Andy Kim 

NEWARK, New Jersey — New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy formally announced Friday he will appoint his former top aide to fill convicted Sen. Bob Menendez’s seat — but in a twist, the governor made clear he’ll appoint the winner of November’s election early.

Murphy’s former chief of staff George Helmy will serve in the Senate once Menendez resigns on Aug. 20 after being found guilty last month on all 16 counts in his corruption trial. Shortly after Murphy made the announcement, Menendez also ended his independent run for reelection.

While Helmy is expected to join the Senate in early September, Murphy said that Helmy will resign once the Nov. 5 election results are certified about three weeks later. The Democratic governor will appoint the winner of that race between Democratic Rep. Andy Kim and GOP hotelier Curtis Bashaw. Kim is strongly favored to win.

The selection of Helmy appears to placate Democrats who wanted the front-runner Kim to serve in the interim while also rewarding a close ally. But it has also left some of the Democrats' key constituencies disappointed he did not choose a woman, particularly one of color. Helmy — who is of Egyptian heritage — is himself a historic pick for the state’s Arab American community. He is also a Coptic Christian.

The governor’s decision also seems to put aside any hard feelings from a brief but intense primary fight between Kim and first lady Tammy Murphy. Phil Murphy downplayed reports that he had a fractured relationship with the three-term representative.

"A lot of the press … would imply that there's sort of some middle school drama with me and Andy Kim, which is just not true,” Murphy told reporters. “I had a very pleasant conversation with him this morning.”

Murphy told reporters that he informed Kim and Bashaw of his decision earlier on Friday.

“I expressed to them my ardent belief that this approach will allow the democratically chosen winner of this year’s election to embark on the smoothest possible transition into office so they can provide the best possible representation to the people of New Jersey,” the governor said during a press conference.

A New Jersey Republican has not been elected to the U.S Senate since 1972. But the prospect of Murphy appointing Bashaw, a Republican, could set up a 50-50 Senate for the final weeks of the congressional session (Democrats would remain in the majority with Vice President Kamala Harris serving as a tie-breaker in the Senate).

Helmy is well liked and well known throughout the state, being the longest-serving chief of staff to any governor in New Jersey history. Murphy had a toxic relationship with the state Legislature which defined much of his first term in office; Helmy is widely credited with repairing that relationship (perhaps speaking to that was the presence of former Senate President Steve Sweeney at Friday’s announcement, who was once Murphy’s top rival in the state house).

Helmy has also been a longtime Senate aide, working for the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg and as state director to Sen. Cory Booker . Helmy will now serve with his former boss, albeit briefly.

Top Democrats throughout the state thought Murphy should have picked Kim for the Senate seat , although the governor was widely viewed as unlikely to appoint him. The primary between Kim and Tammy Murphy was said to strain their relationship. The first lady abruptly dropped out after backlash from the Democratic base with Kim’s rapid ascendancy, despite Murphy's having the state’s political establishment largely backing her at the time.

Helmy serving in the Senate seat comes with an ironic twist. He played a key behind-the-scenes role when Tammy Murphy was competing for the very Senate seat he will soon fill (Tammy Murphy was said to be a potential pick for the governor, although she said she was not interested in an appointment).

In a statement Friday, Kim said he “look[s] forward to working with him in the Capitol.”

New Jersey has never had a woman serve in the Senate. Some groups in the state urged the governor to name a woman — specifically a woman of color — to the interim Senate seat. There is some precedent to such a commitment in Democratic politics: In 2021 , California Gov. Gavin Newsom pledged to appoint a Black woman to to replace Sen. Dianne Feinstein and followed through by naming Laphonza Butler after Feinstein’s death in 2023.

The Latino Action Network, an influential civil rights group in the state, called for the governor to pick labor activist Patricia Campos-Medina to the seat, citing the “continued need for strong Latino representation.” Campos-Medina ran in the Democratic primary to replace Menendez but came in a distant second to Kim.

“It's the governor's prerogative on who he appoints,” Latino Action Network President Javier Robles said in an interview with POLITICO. “It's another missed opportunity, I believe, to appoint the first Latina, even in the interim capacity [it] would have made a difference in how we view … women of color since we've never had a Latina woman senator.”

Campos-Medina, in an interview with POLITICO, said that criticisms of Murphy’s pick was “not a question of [Helmy’s] credentials but a missed opportunity to do something inspirational for New Jersey.”

“To me, what this moment demonstrates is that New Jersey has a long way to go to create opportunity for women and women of color to run for office and be at the top of political leadership in New Jersey,” she said.

Murphy was said to be considering several women of color, including Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas and Nina Mitchell Wells, a former secretary of state in Gov. Jon Corzine’s administration. Jeh Johnson, a former top Obama administration official, was also said to be considered.

When asked about groups that had called for a Latino or woman of color to be named to the seat, the governor said he “completely respect[s] their desires.”

“We considered deeply folks in all of those dimensions, persons of color, women, Latino, Latina, and we took those desires very, very seriously,” Murphy said.

Murphy’s decision to pick Helmy satisfies a constituency usually hostile to the state’s liberal governor: Republicans, who did not want Kim to have the advantages of incumbency in the Senate race.

Republican former Govs. Chris Christie and Tom Kean Sr. called on Murphy to not appoint someone running for office in November . Bashaw, the GOP nominee, had called on Murphy to pick a caretaker for the position — and even listed several Democrats, including television host Jon Stewart. He said Murphy "did the right thing" by "letting New Jersey voters make the ultimate decision on who will best represent them in the United States Senate come November."

Helmy earned a reputation as an effective advocate for the governor and departed the governor’s office to serve as an executive at one of New Jersey’s largest health care systems. He also serves on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which the governor appointed him to (Murphy said Friday that he expects Helmy to step down from the Port Authority position).

Speaking at the press conference, Helmy said he would use his familiarity with the Senate to help the state. It’s a full-circle journey for Helmy, who started working as a caseworker and said it was among the “the most memorable” parts of his career to date. A longtime staffer, Helmy said he never has — and never will — seek elected office.

“The idea of being called 'senator' bothers me deeply,” Helmy said.

Helmy is expected to be sworn in Sept. 9.