After they met in the U.S. Attorneys in the late 1930’s, Richard Hughes and Thorn Lorn became close friends, political allies and law partner. Their law offices, Lord and Hughes, were at 222 West State Street, the old Roebling Mansion, across from the building that temporarily houses the Office of the Governor. Hughes went on to serve as Mercer County Democratic Chairman, Superior Court Judge, two terms as Governor of New Jersey and then as Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Lord was a Lawrence Township Committeeman, Mercer County Democratic Chairman, U.S. Attorney, Port Authority Commissioner, Democratic State Chairman, and in 1960, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate against Clifford Case.
Three-quarters of a century later, Hughes’ son, Michael Murphy, is moving his lobbying firm, ImpactNJ, to the same building. He’s holding an open house there on Tuesday, January 16, from 2-4 PM.
Murphy, a former Morris County Prosecutor, sough the Democratic nomination for Governor in 1997. While Jim McGreevey won that primary, Murphy’s TV ads were widely viewed as the best of the cycle.