Justin Murphy won the New Jersey Republican Senate primary this week and will face Sen. Cory Booker in November, setting the state’s Senate race after a four-way contest that gave Murphy about 33% of the vote.
Murphy, a former Tabernacle township committee member, defeated surgeon Robert Lebovics, Army veteran Richard Tabor and former TV reporter Alex Zdan to win the nomination. Booker, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary, is seeking a third term in the Senate.
Murphy framed his campaign around the armed forces and a conservative agenda, saying he dedicated it to the men and women of the military and calling the American military “the greatest force for good in our world, save religious institutions.” He also said his campaign was about “our country’s culture, parental rights, healthcare system, and economic opportunity for all Americans,” while opposing marijuana legalization, backing “aggressive deportation” of criminal migrants and calling China “the most serious threat” facing the country. He supports President Trump’s push to expand domestic energy production.
The win gives Republicans a nominee, but not a clear path. The Cook Political Report rates Booker’s seat as solid Democrat, Democrats make up about 38% of registered voters in New Jersey to 25% for Republicans and 36% unaffiliated, and the state backed Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in 2024 and Mikie Sherrill over Jack Ciattarelli in the 2025 governor’s race. Booker also won reelection by about 17 percentage points in 2020, and New Jersey has not elected a Republican senator since 1972.
Murphy tried and failed to win the GOP Senate nomination in 2024, and this time he broke through with a plurality, not a majority. That leaves him with the general-election race he wanted, but it also leaves him staring at a Democratic incumbent with a long record of winning statewide in a state that has not sent a Republican to the Senate in more than half a century.
The November campaign now begins with the matchup set and the math working against Murphy. His challenge is not just to hold the GOP base he just assembled, but to persuade enough unaffiliated voters to break with the state’s recent voting patterns to make the race competitive.
