Michael Murphy

Brian M. Hughes, Mercer County executive: Politicker file photo 

The Murphy-Hughes brothers’ first Democratic National Convention was the last one staged in New Jersey: 1964, Atlantic City.

It was hard to beat for drama when compared to everything that followed, with the exception of Chicago just four years later, which the brothers also both attended.

Staged a year after the assassination of John F. Kennedy and a month after Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the historic Civil Rights Act of 1964, the 1964 Democratic Convention featured the nomination of Johnson, of course; and a speech by Robert Kennedy, oldest surviving brother of the slain president.

Mercer County executive Brian J. Hughes, a Lautenberg supporter, and his brother, Michael Murphy, campaign chairman for Andrews 

PRINCETON - New Jersey’s Hughes-Murphy alliance has parted company in the big party races lately, with Michael Murphy backing Barack Obama and Rob Andrews, and Brian J. Hughes standing by Hillary Clinton and Frank Lautenberg for president and U.S. Senate respectively.

Murphy and Mercer County Executive Hughes are half-brothers, whose Irish-American families joined forces with the marriage of Elizabeth Murphy to the late Richard Hughes, New Jersey’s governor from 1962 to 1970.

South Ward Councilman Oscar James II, left, and his choice for U.S. Senate, U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1).

NEWARK - The car pulls into New Jersey’s northern urban stronghold on Saturday and slices through traffic on a mission.

Failing organizational power in the north, U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-1) continues to try to nail together enough of a credible presence to drain his opponent in this part of the state where U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg has a snap-of-the-fingers ability to put people in the street.

The South Jersey congressman travels up Clinton Avenue in Newark’s South Ward, eager to connect with his own Democratic primary allies here.

But where he anticipates finding Andrews for Senate support in front of his destination, he instead encounters an army brandishing shiny blue Lautenberg signs.

Not to be outdone by Frank Lautenberg’s Web site tying him to President Bush’s Iraq policies, Rep. Rob Andrews announced the creation of his own site today.

The site outlines what Andrews says are Lautenberg’s contradictions – from his call for 21 debates with Millicent Fenwick in 1982 to his early support for the Iraq War.

"Nothing speaks louder than a man's own words and actions," said Andrews Campaign Chairman Mike Murphy. "This website lets Sen. Lautenberg's record speak for itself."

Rob Andrews finally got an answer from Frank Lautenberg about participating in debates, but it wasn’t the one he wanted to hear.

The Lautenberg campaign yesterday turned down a debate offered jointly by Richard Stockton College and the Press of Atlantic City, saying that the dates offered- May 5th and 6th – conflicted with Lautenberg’s Senate schedule.

“When I got into this race I challenged the incumbent Senator to a minimum of seven debates. He has danced, bobbed, weaved hidden and we really had no answer until yesterday,” said Andrews in a conference call with reporters. “Yesterday, for the first time, we have a definitive answer, and it’s the wrong one.”

Rep. Rob Andrews named former rival Michael Murphy as his campaign’s general chairman.

Murphy, a former Morris County Prosecutor who operates a public relations firm and is the stepson of former Gov. Richard Hughes, ran against Andrews for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 1997. They both lost to Jim McGreevey, who went on to lose to Christie Whitman.

Andrews called Murphy’s 1997 campaign “tough but very fair.”

The last sitting U.S. Attorney to win election as Governor of New Jersey was Garret Wall in 1828. He declined to serve.: U.S. Senate PhotoChris Christie is not the only federal prosecutor with an eye on higher office. But if he decides to run for governor, he'll need to figure out the optimum timing of his formal announcement.

One man who can understand Christie's position is 88-year-old Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. Back in 1962, just one year after John F. Kennedy named him U.S. Attorney for New York's southern district, Morgenthau resigned to make a gubernatorial bid against incumbent Nelson D. Rockefeller at the urging of the New York City Mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr.

Morgenthau lost, 53%-44%. Partly, he said, because he entered the race too late. As U.S. Attorney, it would have been inappropriate for him to meet with officials or campaign donors to shore up support for a run, he said.