‘You gotta know when your time is up’

By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

January 12, 2026 | nj.com

Eight years ago, I sat down in a Trenton office building with the man who was about to become the next New Jersey governor: an openly liberal, dad-joke-spouting, onetime aspiring musical theater actor from Massachusetts turned wealthy Wall Street executive and diplomat named Phil Murphy.

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NJ SEED: As their terms come to an end, all NJ Governors look back on their successes. In an interview prior to his first inauguration, Gov.-elect Murphy stated that his goal was to make NJ “the California of the east coast” – a scary thought. For whatever might be Phil Murphy’s lasting legacy, time will tell.