Gov. Phil Murphy intends to appoint George S. Helmy, his former chief of staff, to the United States Senate to replace Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.
Murphy is expected to formally offer Helmy the post on Thursday and announce his selection on Friday, but the decision is locked.
Helmy, a 44-year-old Mountain Lakes resident, was the most powerful non-elected official in New Jersey politics while serving as Murphy’s chief of staff for nearly five years. He also served as deputy chief of staff and state director for U.S. Senator Cory Booker, and as an aide to Booker’s predecessor, Frank R. Lautenberg.
Given New Jersey’s five-month timeline for filling a House vacancy, Murphy did not consider appointing Rep. Andy Kim (D-Moorestown), the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, or any other member of the House delegation.
But it is anticipated that Murphy also wants to appoint the winner of the Senate race sometime after the results of the November 2024 general election are certified.
Gov. Phil Murphy, left ,with his longtime chief of staff, George Helmy, in September 2023. (Photo: Office of the Governor).
Since leaving state government last year, Helmy has served as executive vice president and chief external affairs and policy officer at RWJBarnabas Health, New Jersey’s largest integrated healthcare delivery system, with research hospitals, acute care facilities, and academic centers with nearly 40,000 employees and over 1,000 physicians. He is also a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Menendez was convicted last month on federal bribery and conspiracy charges; his resignation takes effect on August 20, on the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Helmy emerged as the early front-runner for the Senate seat after First Lady Tammy Murphy, who ran for the seat earlier this year but dropped out before the Democratic primary, ruled out an interest in an appointment. Sources who spoke under the condition of anonymity said that while Helmy was always first on the list, others considered by Murphy included Lieutenant Gov. Tahesha Way, former Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas, Democratic State Committee Vice Chair Marguerite Schaffer, and Amy Kennedy, a mental health advocate and public school teacher. Some, but not all, went through a vetting process.
Activist Patricia Campos-Medina, who won 16% in the Democratic Senate primary in June, launched a mini-campaign to secure an appointment to the Senate, but she was never among those who received consideration.
Helmy is expected to take office on September 9, when the Senate returns from its August recess. He will be a caretaker, and will be succeeded by the winner of the 2024 Senate race in New Jersey: either Kim or Republican Curtis Bashaw.
When he takes office, Helmy will be joined on the Senate floor by Booker, his former boss and the state’s soon-to-be senior senator. He will be one of about fifteen former staffers serving in the U.S. Senate.
Helmy will become the first member of the Coptic Christian Church and the sixth Arab American to serve in the U.S. Senate. He will be the fifth-youngest member of the Senate.
Left to right: Gov. Phil Murphy, Chief of Staff George Helmy, Supreme Court Justice-designate Michael Noriega, and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin. (Photo: Office of the Governor/Edwin Torres).
Helmy grew up in Jersey City, played football and basketball at Glen Ridge High School, attended Rutgers University, and earned a master’s degree from Harvard. He worked for two Fortune 100 companies and owned a small business before going to work for Lautenberg. He is married and the father of two.
He joined Murphy in early 2019 after the governor’s first chief of staff, Peter Cammarano, resigned following a tumultuous first year.
As Murphy’s chief of staff, Helmy played a primary role in guiding New Jersey through a global pandemic, significant upgrades of the state’s credit ratings, and the passage of legislation codifying Roe v. Wade into state law and strengthening the state’s gun safety regulations. On Helmy’s watch, Murphy became the first Democratic governor in 44 years to win re-election.
In March 2023, Helmy became the longest-serving chief of staff for a New Jersey governor in state history, breaking a record held for over 33 years by Edward R. McGlynn, who served under Gov. Thomas Kean. Shortly before Helmy’s departure last year, Murphy described him as “unflappable” and a “five-tool player” who displayed “incredible judgment.”
Since his exit as chief of staff, Helmy has remained one of Murphy’s top advisors and continues to manage his non-governmental political relationships. Helmy has been ranked first on the New Jersey Globe Power List for the last two years.
It’s not unusual for governors to turn to ex-staffers and close friends to serve as caretakers in the U.S. Senate. After Lautenberg died in June 2013, Gov. Chris Christie picked his former law partner, Jeff Chiesa; Chiesa followed Christie to the U.S. Attorney’s office and then to Trenton, where he served as chief counsel to the governor and state attorney general.
Following Harrison Williams’ resignation in 1982, Gov. Thomas Kean appointed an old friend, Nicholas Brady, an investment banker and Republican state committeeman from Somerset County, as interim senator. Brady later served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Arthur Walsh, picked for a twelve-day stay in the Senate by Gov. Charles Edison in 1943, had started out as a violinist for Thomas A. Edison, Inc. and rose to the position of executive vice president of the governor’s father’s company.
Other recent Senate appointees have come from the staff level: Alex Padilla (D-California) had worked for Dianne Feinstein; Mo Cowan (D-Massachusetts) had served as chief of staff to Gov. Deval Patrick; Carte Goodwin (D-West Virginia) had been Gov. Joe Manchin’s chief counsel; Paul Kirk (D-Massachusetts) had started his career as an aide to Ted Kennedy; George LeMieux (R-Florida) was chief of staff to Gov. Charles Crist; and Ted Kaufman (D-Delaware), was a top staffer to U.S. Senator Joe Biden for 22 years and then spent ten months in the Senate after Biden resigned to become Vice President.
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66bd4c59cedc4073b92690dc3ab6a835&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnewjerseyglobe.com%2Fcongress%2Fgeorge-helmy-will-be-new-u-s-senator-from-new-jersey%2F&c=5682402352516493734&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-08-14 13:00:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.