The 97 nominations to state boards, commissions, and other bodies Gov. Phil Murphy made Thursday include some of his top allies. (Photo by Dana DiFilippo/New Jersey Monitor)
Gov. Phil Murphy submitted nearly 100 nominations to a slew of state boards and commissions Thursday in what is likely to be the grandest tranche of nominees before he leaves office on Jan. 20.
Many of the 97 nominations referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday would extend the terms of individuals already sitting on a range of state bodies, though others would install individuals in new and consequential positions and keep them there at least partway through Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill’s term.
Micah Rasmussen, director of Rider University’s Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, said Murphy’s lame-duck move is “not unusual at all.”
“Lame duck is an opportunity to clear the deck, and that’s going to be true of any outgoing governor,” Rasmussen said. “I guess the thing that makes it a little unusual for New Jersey standards is that you have a Democrat who’s succeeding a Democrat.”
Sherrill is the first Democrat to succeed a two-term Democratic New Jersey governor in more than 60 years, and her pending ascent as the state’s chief executive could complicate some nominations, though other positions can be filled or emptied at the governor’s say-so.
The list of new Murphy nominations is long and varied, and includes some of the governor’s top advisers.
Mahen Gunaratna, Murphy’s communications director and a close longtime aide, was nominated to a seat on the Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield board of directors. The part-time post comes with an $82,000 salary.
Gunaratna, who has led the administration’s messaging on public worker health benefit reforms, would fill the seat currently held by former Assemblyman Ralph Caputo.
“I think his nomination in this case may have more to do with his involvement in the subject matter and his interest in the subject matter,” Rasmussen said.
Murphy nominated his chief counsel, Kate McDonnell, to a seat on the Rowan University-Rutgers Camden Board of Governors, along with Community Affairs Commissioner Jacqueline Suárez.
Hudson County Democratic Chairman Craig Guy received a nomination to the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Kevin O’Toole, the board’s chairman, was nominated for another term.
Murphy nominated Republican former state Sen. Kip Bateman, Democratic State Committee vice chair Peg Schaffer, and Brian Woods, chief of staff to the 8th Legislative District’s GOP lawmakers, to the State Parole Board. Schaffer is also Somerset County’s Democratic chairwoman.
Former Hunterdon County Democratic Chair Arlene Quiñones Perez was nominated to Montclair State University’s board of trustees.
