Asbury Park Convention Hall

Remarks As Prepared for Delivery

You know, we just had the most New Jersey experience…

I was on my way someplace and it took us longer to get there than we planned.

As a matter of fact, some might say it took 44 years to get here.

I am humbled to be the first Democratic governor reelected since my dear friend, Governor Brendan Byrne, did this in 1977.

Thank you, New Jersey.

Thank you for putting your trust in our team for another four years.

Thank you for saying we need to keep moving forward on our shared journey to a stronger and fairer New Jersey.

In New Jersey, we know how to make forward work from the middle out and the bottom up.

And we know how to move forward and accomplish big things.

We are a national leader in raising the minimum wage …

In making millionaires pay their fair share to give working families and the middle class a break …

In education, with the best public schools in the entire country …

In defending women’s health and funding Planned Parenthood …

In protecting the Affordable Care Act to make healthcare more affordable …

In making childcare more available and affordable…

In making a college education more affordable…

In expanding paid family leave and pre-K…

In securing our democracy by expanding voting rights …

In proudly being the quintessential pro-union state …

In creating a clean energy economy with good jobs…

In commonsense gun safety …

In recovering from Covid by following science…

In rebuilding from Covid by bringing people together and helping small businesses get back on their feet. ..

And, by always remembering every soul taken by this pandemic.

If you want to know what the future looks like, come to New Jersey.

If you want to understand where America is heading, look to New Jersey.

And, if you want to be governor for all of New Jersey, you must listen to all of New Jersey.

And New Jersey, I hear you.

So, tonight, I renew my promise to you — whether you voted for me or not — to work every single day of the next four years to keep moving us forward.

Forward with renewed optimism to ensure greater opportunities for all nine-point-three million who call this great state home.

Forward with a deeper sense of fairness and a commitment to equity.

Forward by rejecting the divisiveness and chaos that permeate too much of our politics.

In short, forward by living up to our Jersey Values.

To everyone who made tonight possible …

Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver …

Chairman Leroy Jones and Vice-Chair Peg Schaffer …

Our campaign team led by Mollie Binotto and Jackie Burns …

The thousands of volunteers who knocked on doors and made phone calls …

Our friends in organized labor who stood tall in support of us and our mission …

Everyone. Thank you all so much!

Most importantly, I thank my family, many of whom are here, and I especially thank the chair of our campaign, the finance chair of our campaign, and New Jersey’s all-time greatest First Lady, Tammy Murphy.

And the four most important things that Tammy and I have ever accomplished — Josh, Emma, Charlie, and Sam Murphy. We love you all so much.

Before I close, I will go back to where I started, with my dear friend Governor Brendan Byrne, who was the last Democrat to be elected to a second term all the way back in 1977.

In his second inaugural address, Governor Byrne concluded by noting, “We shall be judged in the long-run not by how we fared in elections, but by what we did as an administration.”

These are the words that Sheila and I, and our team, and each and every single one of us, have lived every single day the past four years and will live by every day for the next four years as we continue the work to make New Jersey ever stronger and ever fairer.

And they will remind us to always, always, always, keep moving forward.

Again, thank you!

May God bless you all, and may God continue to bless the great State of New Jersey and the United States of America.