N.J. gov race: Murphy, ex-Goldman exec, says he'll limit spending if he wins Dem primary

Phil Murphy, the multimillionaire former Wall Street executive, will agree to limit his campaign spending in accordance with the state’s public financing program should he win next week’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, his campaign said Wednesday.

Murphy, the front-runner for his party’s nomination, has loaned his campaign $16.3 million of his own money and spent $20.1 million overall in the primary, according to campaign-finance records made public Wednesday.

After shunning his rivals’ calls to limit his spending in the primary, Murphy surprised New Jersey political observers by agreeing to spend no more than $13.8 million in the general election campaign.

Murphy spent two decades at the Wall Street investment firm Goldman Sachs and served as President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Germany from 2009 to 2013. The most money ever spent on a New Jersey gubernatorial campaign is $43 million, by Jon S. Corzine, the former Goldman CEO, in 2005.

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