New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy announces run for U.S. Senate seat in 2024

A former Republican, Tammy Murphy has spoken about growing up in a GOP-leaning area of Virginia and has previously donated to that party. She became a Democrat before her husband’s run for office.

Tammy Murphy was named in a gender discrimination lawsuit this year brought by state troopers who worked on the detail responsible for providing security for the governor. The suit alleges that Tammy Murphy denied a trooper the use of a carriage house on Murphy’s property to pump breast milk.

In a statement this week, she denied the allegations as “outrageous and categorically false.”

Menendez has pleaded not guilty to federal charges. Prosecutors have said the senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, accepted bribes of cash, gold bars and a luxury car over the past five years from three New Jersey businessmen in exchange for a variety of corrupt acts. He’s also accused of being an unregistered agent on behalf of Egypt.

He hasn’t said whether he’ll seek reelection in 2024 but said after being indicted that he’s “not going anywhere.” He was first appointed to the Senate seat in 2006 after the vacancy caused by Jon Corzine’s election as governor of New Jersey. Menendez has since won three elections to the Senate.

Kim, a three-term representative from the state’s 3rd District, announced his candidacy just a day after the corruption charges against Menendez, saying he believed New Jersey deserved better.

Menendez’s indictment led to a collapse of Democratic support in the state for him.