Today is Phil Murphy’s 36th day in office. Murphy appointed three more cabinet members — all women — making him the first governor to have a woman-majority in his cabinet. That plays into his administration’s narrative of securing his Democratic base, especially as he prepares for a high-profile bill signing restoring Planned Parenthood funding that Chris Christie took away. He also demonstrated some political acumen by telling his Acting Commissioner of Education to inform local school superintendents that students who want to participate in a scheduled walkout to protest gun violence should be allowed to. Again, he is in control of his own narrative, and that’s the smart thing for a new governor to do.
(PoliticsDW will give Murphy a grade every day — either a check, a check plus, a check minus, or an incomplete. He’ll get a letter grade every week. Last week, Murphy got an A.)