N.J. first lady Tammy Murphy announces bid for Senate seat

Nov. 15 (UPI) -- New Jersey first lady Tammy Murphy launched a campaign Wednesday for the U.S. Senate seat held by the federally criminally indicted Sen. Bob Menendez.

Murphy announced her campaign in a post on X as she pledged "to fight for New Jersey, our families and our democracy."

If elected she would be the first woman from New Jersey to serve in the U.S. Senate.

"From gun violence and mass shootings to a warming planet that threatens our children's future to extreme politicians who want to defund Planned Parenthood and ban abortion in all 50 states including New Jersey we have big, complicated issues and solving them won't be easy," she said in her campaign video.

The video does not mention Menendez, D-N.J., by name but he is seen on screen along with other U.S. lawmakers as Murphy asserts that Washington "is filled with too many people who are more interested in getting rich or getting on camera than getting things done for you."

Menendez pleaded not guilty in October to a charge of conspiring to act as a foreign agent of Egypt.

He was already facing bribery charges for allegedly using his political clout in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and a Mercedes convertible.

Menendez has refused to resign over the criminal indictment against him and instead said he will fight the charges while running for re-election.

Murphy's husband, Gov. Phil Murphy, is a former Goldman Sachs executive who spent $20 million of his own money in his 2017 bid for governor.

Murphy, who until the mid-2010's was a Republican, joins Rep. Andy Kim, D-N.J. in challenging Menendez. Kim announced his primary move against Menendez the day after Menendez was indicted on bribery charges.