Veteran Democratic Party operative Michael Muller will serve as state director in New Jersey for the

presidential campaign of former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

Today is his first official day.

In another sign of early NJ strength for Bloomberg on the same day that Booker exited from the presidential contest, Muller’s team on the ground in his home state will include veteran North Jersey operative Ray Ferraioli as senior adviser.

Muller has close ties to the South Jersey Democratic operation, while Ferraioli has strong ties to Essex County Democratic Committee Chairman LeRoy Jones.

Both veteran operatives have deep political ties statewide.

Like Muller, Ferraioli was also very active in campaigns on behalf of Democratic candidates as recently as the 2019 general elections. He’s also close to the political network of U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-9).

Senior strategist with Totten Communications, Muller’s achievements include building the New Jersey Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee (DACC) into a bulwark.

As DACC’s executive director since 2002, he helped increase the New Jersey Democrats’ Assembly majority to its largest level since the Watergate era and often overcame daunting odds by building and leading a well-regarded professional operation.

InsiderNJ has also learned that Axel Owen, who last year served as the campaign manager of Zwicker and Freiman in LD16 and is the former politial director for the Demoratic State Committee who cut his teeth on Senator Vin Gopal’s successful 2017 campaign, is also on board with the Bloomberg NJ team.

Last month, InsiderNJ’s Bob Hennelly wrote this about Bloomberg’s presidential campaign:

So far, his latest presidential trial balloon has seen his resume relegated to horse race analysis and not on the pros and cons of how Mr. Bloomberg track record might qualify, or disqualify him for the Presidency. It has been said American voters resist this kind of intellectual exercise, opting instead to vote with their gut when choosing the leader of the Free World.