Brendan Gill, a county freeholder who headed Phil Murphy's long campaign to become the governor of New Jersey, is now being seen as one of the state's top political operatives in the wake of an election many once thought unwinnable.
NEWARK--Brendan Gill, the Democratic strategist who managed Phil Murphy's once-unimaginable campaign for governor, won big on Tuesday night.
Gill, who successfully guided Murphy through a race few at first thought the little-known Wall Street executive and former ambassador could win when he declared his candidacy, had his own name on the ballot as a freeholder in Essex County.
And 50 miles from the Asbury Park Convention Hall, as the campaign manager watched green and blue balloons tumble down from the ceiling in a late evening celebration heralding Murphy's victory, county voters re-elected Gill by an overwhelming margin. Of the four incumbents who won, he garnered the most votes.
A political and public affairs consultant who has managed other statewide races, Gill has long danced in both worlds. A freeholder since 2011, he also operates the BGill Group and was brought on early to the Murphy team as campaign manager.
"I'm an elected official who has a day job. This is my day job," Gill said of his role in the Murphy campaign.
But it has also suddenly thrust him in the spotlight as a high-level political operative who has the ear of New Jersey's next governor.
Even before the votes were counted, Gill--who said he does not plan to take a position within the new administration--was seen as a major player in the state. A fundraising gala for Gill last month at Nanina's in the Park in Belleville in support of his re-election as county freeholder brought in tens of thousands of dollars. Campaign finance reports show he raised $271,594 from some of the state's biggest political movers and shakers, including major labor unions and top law firms.
It was far more than he ever raised before, in a county race controlled by a Democratic machine where he faced no real opposition.
Gill, who does not plan to take a formal position in the new administration, downplayed the scope of his fundraising, and bristled at any suggestion that donors to his freeholder race might have been looking to gain entree to Murphy.
"I had 122 new donors in 2017, which accounted for $122,335 in contributions. Of these new donors, over half, were small dollar contributors," Gill said in response to questions about his fundraising. "I don't see what the issue is. I didn't do anything more than I did in 2014."
An invitation to Gill's most recent fundraising reception held last month by the Essex County freeholder.
According to Gill, of the 146 donors who contributed to his freeholder race in either 2011 or 2014, about a third also contributed in 2017 for a total of about $80,000, which he said was "in no way a direct result of my work directly or indirectly with Murphy or any other entity or client."
Still, Montclair State University political science professor Brigid Harrison, who closely follows state politics and credited Gill with "single-handedly engineering Murphy's nomination," saw his increased state profile and the idea of access as likely factors in the boost to the freeholder's personal fundraising efforts.
Harrison said Gill ran "an incredibly successful campaign" that put Murphy into the governor's mansion without really breaking a sweat.
"Gill has Murphy's ear like no other, and contributors view him as a conduit through which their priorities and messages can be conveyed to the next likely governor," observed Harrison.
Seton Hall University political science professor Matthew Hale labeled Gill "the most talented political operative" in the state today, and said that recognition is going to draw money.
"Whether it is behind a candidate or as a candidate he is big player in New Jersey politics and that attracts donors," Hale remarked.
Gill, 43, who grew up in Montclair, a suburban Essex County enclave where his father still teaches social studies and history, has worked in politics since his days as a volunteer during the Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign.
Gill in his office at Murphy campaign headquarters in Newark, a week before the election that Murphy won handily this week. (Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)
In an interview in his sparse office at Murphy's headquarters on the fifth floor of Newark's Gateway Center, a week before Tuesday's voting, Gill recalled the excitement of the massive Clinton-Gore rally at the Meadowlands in the final week of that race.
More than 15,000 people had gathered just days before voters would start going to the polls. Among the entertainers on hand were the "Clinton-Gore All-Star Jazz Band," which included Wynton Marsalis on trumpet, Grover Washington Jr. and Gerry Mulligan on saxophone, Scott Colley on bass, Hank Jones on piano and Thelonious Monk Jr. on drums. Singers Michael Bolton and Kathy Matea performed, as did the cast of "Les Miserables."
But what he remembered most about the event was Clinton, in firing up the crowd to vote that Tuesday, talking about what the day after the election would feel like if they lost.
"That's where I caught the bug," said Gill, who was then 18-years-old and a freshman at Seton Hall University. "Learning how a large-scale event is produced was pretty cool."
He did an internship with Public Citizen, a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., and after graduation with a degree in political science, began looking for a job on Capitol Hill. He said he was rejected by every member of the House and Senate.
Gill finally was able to talk his way into a meeting with Rep. Bill Pascrell, a Passaic County Democrat, who didn't offer him a job, but asked if he wanted to volunteer in a voter registration drive.
"I got the message," Gill said. "This is how you start."
Pascrell remembers the meeting. "He called the office to get a job in advance of the '96 campaign. We didn't have a solution," the congressman said. But Montclair was then part of Pascrell's congressional district and Gill joined the campaign as an unpaid volunteer to help connect with Essex voters.
"He was out in the community," Pascrell said. "He was helpful in introducing me to a lot of people."
After the election, Gill was hired and remained on Pascrell's staff for four years, becoming his district director, and later worked for Rep. Steve Rothman, and U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg.
Jim McQueeny, a public affairs consultant and advisor to the Murphy campaign who served as Lautenberg's chief of staff and remained close to the senator until his death, had recommended Gill to Lautenberg, bringing them together for a meeting at Hobby's, the iconic Jewish-style deli in Newark that has long been a hangout for many of the state's top movers and shakers.
"He had a good sense of ground politics," said McQueeny.
Gill became Lautenberg's state director, later running the senator's 2008 re-election campaign. He ran for office himself in 2011, winning his first term as Essex County freeholder. He joined Sen. Cory Booker's staff after Lautenberg's death in 2013, and subsequently ran Booker's 2014 re-election campaign.
When Murphy--a wealthy former Goldman Sachs executive who had never run for office and was little known in New Jersey--began exploring a possible gubernatorial bid in New Jersey nearly three years ago, he got together with McQueeny to talk about a game plan.
According to McQueeny, among his recommendations were that Murphy hire a core group who included seasoned Democratic strategist Julie Roginsky, media gurus Steve DeMicco and Brad Lawrence, national pollster Joel Benenson, and Gill.
"You need someone who can justify spending and match it to the polls. It's critical. You need someone who can say 'no,'" he said, explaining his recommendation of Gill. "Brendan has a cantankerous Irish streak that lets him say no."
Gill said he had business relationships with some of those who did work for the campaign, but did not detail them.
Ben Dworkin, director of The Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, said the come-out-of-nowhere win by Murphy--even before the Democratic primary, where he had been expected to face Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and Senate President Stephen Sweeney until both unexpectedly pulled out--was a huge achievement for Gill.
"Fulop had the votes in the North. Sweeney was rock solid in the South. Murphy was number three," said Dworkin. "I don't think anyone who was in the backrooms then still knows how it played out, but it was a huge accomplishment. I think Gill gets to take credit for it."
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Facebook: @TedSherman.reporter. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
