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Derrick Green has resigned as governor’s office spokesman to begin a new job.
Mr. Green’s departure comes after Republican Gov. Phil Murphy, who had been the state’s top spokesman for two years, abruptly fired Melissa Ziobro, who succeeded him.
“After 18 months of work, I have made the decision to leave my job as lieutenant governor press secretary and become a limited partner with Tony Best,” said Mr. Green in a statement posted to his campaign website. “After 17 years, I have decided it is time to create new opportunities.”
Mr. Green, 53, had been a valued spokesman for Mr. Murphy. As spokesman, he had the ability to communicate the need for more traffic flow in his office, the need for more lanes on Route 7, and much more in the media about the administration’s goals in the state. Mr. Green had also used social media in a prominent and visible role to inform policy makers, and advocated aggressively for the state to upgrade its airport.
As communications director for a liberal-leaning group, Mr. Green, was believed to have had close ties to Booker, who he once thought he might run against but ultimately moved on to Tarkington, who also touted being in the prominent position.
Mr. Green was supposed to continue in his role as communications director for another year, having left after the 2014 primary to attend Dartmouth College.
