Today, Senator Andrew Zwicker (D-South Brunswick) and Assemblyman Roy Freiman (D-Hillsborough) announced two early senior staff hires for the 2023 legislative cycle, With Om Savargaonkar serving as Campaign Manager and Molly Murphy serving as Finance Director. The hiring of Savargaonkar and Murphy marks the first set of hires to keep the 16th legislative Democratic this November.

Om Savargaonkar has run large-scale field operations on competitive legislative and congressional races in New Jersey, Oregon, and Michigan, and returns to LD16 after a successful 2022 cycle where he led a field effort that amounted to the fifth largest voter turnout in the country to re-elect U.S. Representative Elissa Slotkin (D-MI-07). 

In 2021, Savargaonkar was the Field Director in LD16 which led to Andrew Zwicker’s election as the first Democrat to represent the 16th in the State Senate, Roy Freiman’s re-election to the Assembly, and Sadaf Jaffer’s election as the first South Asian woman to serve in the legislature. Senator Zwicker’s election to the NJ State Senate was the only Democratic legislative pickup in the country. 

Molly Murphy served as U.S. Senator Patty Murray’s National Finance Director last cycle and was the Deputy Finance Director on Governor Phil Murphy’s re-election campaign in 2021. As an integral part of the fundraising team, she helped the Murphy campaign raise over $20 million. Murphy was also a regional finance assistant for the 2020 Biden Campaign. Her knowledge and experience, both nationally and in New Jersey, is a huge benefit in the Zwicker and Freiman’s ability to fundraise this cycle. 

“Om is no stranger to the 16th District. – He led one of the largest field efforts in the state during the 2021 cycle and has demonstrated his ability to win tough races, both in New Jersey and across the country,” said Senator Zwicker and Assemblyman Freiman. “As our Finance Director, Molly will allow us to combine grassroots and traditional fundraising strategies to ensure that we have the resources we need to communicate with voters across the district. We cannot be more excited to get this campaign underway with both Om and Molly at the helm. ” 

“I am extremely excited for the opportunity to come back to my home district and build on the work we have done to elect representatives who ensure the voices of 16th District families are heard in Trenton. Senator Zwicker and Assemblyman Freiman have made history every cycle since they were elected, and I am proud to be leading this incredible team to victory in November,” Savargaonkar said. 

“Our large-scale fundraising operation will be key to communicate the work of Senator Zwicker and Assemblyman Freiman to the 16th district voters. I am proud to be on the ground working to re-elect this great team of legislators,” Murphy said.