METUCHEN — Come January, Mayor Peter Cammarano will serve as chief of staff to Governor-elect Phil Murphy.
Not new to the role, Cammarano served as chief of staff under former Governor Richard Codey from 2004 to 2006. Prior to that Cammarano worked in the same role in Codey’s legislative office for 10 years.
“I’m honored to be asked to serve Governor-elect Murphy and the people of the state,” Cammarano said on Nov. 17. “I look forward to helping New Jersey move forward by building a stronger economy in the state.”
Codey (D-Essex) said tapping Cammarano is one of the best moves Murphy has made. And how he know this, Codey said, is “from experience”.
“Pete is not afraid to pull you the other way when he thinks you are going the wrong way,” he said. “He is respectful, easy to work with and well known [in the political arena], which is very important.”
On Nov. 14, Murphy rolled out the names of his transition team and announced his nomination of Cammarano as chief of staff and Matt Platkin, who served as Murphy’s policy director during the campaign, as chief counsel.
Middlesex County Democratic Chairman Kevin McCabe said Peter Cammarano has been an “incredibly effective mayor and, thanks in large part to him, Metuchen is among the best managed towns in the state.”
“Our state is lucky to have someone of Peter’s experience working alongside Governor-Elect Murphy to move New Jersey forward,” he said.
Cammarano, a lobbyist with Cammarano, Layton and Bombardieri Partners LLC, Trenton, was elected mayor in 2016. Prior to the mayoral role, he served on the Borough Council for seven years.
Cammarano, whose term expires in 2019, is expected to step down his mayoral position at the end of the year.
