His first campaign ad was kind of lackluster – even lame.

But the latest ad for Phil Murphy’s reelection campaign is a bit juicier.

It suggests that Republicans running for governor are arguing about, “Who’s like Trump?”

And then it provides the answer – “They all are.”

Ignore for a moment the substance here, or even whether the assessment is true. What’s meaningful is that the Murphy camp thinks Donald Trump is still going to be an issue in New Jersey this fall.

And if that’s the case, Murphy will have no problem getting reelected.

Putting the genuine passion of many Trump supporters aside, the fact is that the former president got slightly more than 41 percent of the vote in New Jersey both times he ran for president. That’s not exactly a prescription for victory.

So linking any of the three main Republican gubernatorial candidates to Trump seems like good politics for Murphy.

Then again, it is almost six months to election day and things can change. Given Trump’s penchant for staying in the limelight, he’s probably not going anywhere, but other issues in New Jersey – like the pandemic – may become more important.

News reports circulating today say that New Jersey is the only state still requiring those vaccinated to wear masks in indoor public places. It has to be assumed that will change soon, but does this seemingly very cautious stance help, or hurt, the governor politically.

I know, Murphy claims he doesn’t care about politics when it comes to the pandemic, but the reality is that just about everything he does has political implications.

Which brings us back to the governor’s initial ad.

It speaks of New Jersey being tested like never before and takes pride in the state coming together to cope with the pandemic.

Two issues are specifically highlighted and both are dear to the governor’s liberal leanings.

One is raising the minimum wage. The ad stresses that point by showing a guy delivering a pizza.

The other is supporting reproductive rights.

Besides the Trump connection, the second ad mentions reproductive rights as well, but also heralds the governor’s success in raising the income tax rate on those earning more than a million dollars a year.

You figure he’ll soon get around to talking about legalizing pot.

These are some of the core issues Murphy ran on in 2017 and he’s been able to accomplish much of that agenda.

You can expect him to point that out and if that fails, or if he needs a change of pace, there’s always linking all Republicans to Donald Trump. That’s been the Dems’ best weapon for the last four years.