Maybe it’s just New Jersey

Garden State voters who were glad to see Republican Gov. Chris Christie leave office now are wondering about their new Democratic governor.

After taking office in January, the administration of Phil Murphy began a series of refurbishment and redecoration projects in the governor’s office and residence costing $27,000, a fairly moderate sum.

But $13,000 of that amount went to create a doorway in a conference room that will serve as an office for his wife, Tammy, who has no constitutional role in state government, down the hall from his own.

Media outlets throughout the state have noted that the first lady has been given plum speaking roles at public events and has been influential in policy discussions.

“She has a prominent seat at the table for policy discussions,” Murphy defensively said in a statement.

The new expenditures have heightened speculation the governor, a multi-millionaire former Goldman Sachs executive, is just another limousine liberal.

Not only did he stick the people of New Jersey with $1.6 billion in new taxes, but he also said he would be delighted to accept the state chief executive’s salary of $175,000 (which doesn’t cover the property taxes on his $9.4 million home). Earlier, there had been speculation he would follow in the footsteps of former New Jersey Democratic governor and Goldman Sachs executive Jon Corzine in taking an annual salary of only $1.