Gov. Murphy Endorses Tim Dougherty For Morristown Mayor

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Gov. Phil Murphy endorsed Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty for re-election. Dougherty, running for a fourth term, faces a Democratic primary challenge from Esperanza Porras-Field.

As Murphy runs for re-election, he's endorsed several candidates around New Jersey running for local or county office. New Jersey's primary elections take place June 8.

“As Mayor, Tim Dougherty has earned a reputation for principled, forward-looking leadership and always puts the residents of Morristown first,” Murphy said in a news release from his campaign. “In response to the many challenges of the pandemic, Mayor Dougherty is supporting hard-hit small businesses, delivering real results, and moving Morristown forward.

"Mayor Dougherty, along with Councilwoman Toshiba Foster, Councilman David Silva, and Nathan Umbriac, is the right choice to build on Morristown’s progress, and I’m proud to endorse his candidacy for re-election.”

Foster, Silva and Umbriac are running uncontested for Town Council at-large positions. They joined a ticket with Dougherty.

Porras-Field called Murphy's endorsement "generic" and devoid of support for any of Dougherty's specific positions.

"Governor Murphy's endorsement of Mayor Dougherty is generic and unremarkable at best, supporting no specific policies by the Mayor," Porras-Field said. "It affirms the notion that Governor Murphy prefers to support the status quo and a dishonorable incumbent rather than a forward-looking, dynamic Latina civic leader, entrepreneur, and business owner."

No one filed to run for in the mayoral election as a Republican. So barring anything unforeseen, the winner of the Democratic primary would secure the position in the General Election.

Porras-Field has been a real estate broker associate for 40 years and is CEO of Hope Seasons LLC. She is the founder of the Morris County Hispanic-American Chamber of Commerce and has served on Morristown's planning board, parking authority and housing council, along with the Morristown Democratic Committee and American Red Cross.

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