When news broke Tuesday that New Jersey’s widely-admired Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver had died, Gov. Phil Murphy announced he would immediately end his vacation in his 23-room Italian mansion and fly home. According to state statute, Murphy has 45 days to choose a replacement and has promised to choose a woman of color. NJ Globe‘s David Wildstein says the most likely candidates include Secretary of State Tahesha Way, Assemblywomen Shavonda Sumter, Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, Britnee Timberlake, and Eliana Pintor-Marin.

Here’s a thought experiment: what if Murphy went in a different direction and chose a Lieutenant Governor who would buttress both NJ’s beleaguered state education system as well as his political ambitions?

To be more specific, what if Murphy anointed former Senate President Steve Sweeney, ignobly forced out in 2021 after being beaten by an anti-vaxxer pro-gun Trump-loving Islamophobe named Ed Durr?

I know, I know. There’s little love lost between the Governor and Sweeney, who often differed on issues like pension reform–which, by the way, Sheila Oliver helped shepherd through the Legislature—and how long to extend the COVID-19 state emergency resolutions. Sweeney as Murphy’s successor? Nah.

Yet why should these relatively minor differences preclude an opportunity to repair our ramshackle Department of Education (which yesterday decided the best use of its time was to play woke word games instead of addressing the staggering learning loss among NJ students)? Why shouldn’t Murphy resuscitate his fracturing presidential ambitions by showing America he’s got some breadth and depth beyond posing as an elitist “progressive” foil?

Here are three reasons why Sweeney should be our next Lieutenant Governor.

First, the former senator is not in thrall to union bosses (as an ironworker union member himself). He has bucked teacher union bosses who sometimes have different agendas than parents, especially those who have children stuck in unsuccessful schools. That’s why Sweeney supports public charter schools (can’t imagine a scenario where Sweeney would kowtow to NJEA and declare a moratorium on charter school approvals like Murphy did) and why he once joked, “Murphy checks with the NJEA before making any decisions”).

Sweeney has had to navigate the special education system—his daughter has Down Syndrome—and understands that parents often struggle with a confounding bureaucracy. He has little patience for corruption. In 2019, when Lizette Delgado-Polanco, CEO of the Schools Development Authority, was caught in a nepotism scandal (which oddly paralleled a similar one at the Education Department) while squandering $12 billion in taxpayer money, Murphy refused to call for her resignation. An irate Sweeney told reporters, “She thinks she going to come to the Legislature and we’re going to refinance that program?”

Second, if Murphy chooses Sweeney he avoids the discomforting position of having to chose among the raft of wannabe successors. Imaging the agita of having to endorse Jersey City mayor Steve Fulop over Newark mayor Ras Baraka. Or Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill over Josh Gottheimer or John Wisniewski? Or, heaven forbid, throw them all over for NJEA President Sean Spiller.

With Sweeney next in line, problem solved!

Lastly, appointing Sweeney as Oliver’s replacement could reinvigorate Murphy’s faltering campaign for national recognition.

Let’s face facts: South Jersey isn’t an outlier. New Jersey may be a blue state with a Democratic governor and legislature at the moment but, for many, Murphy’s brand of “progressivism” has lost some appeal. South Jersey is redder (remember Ed Durr) and so is America; heck, in 2021 Murphy barely eked out a victory over Jack Cittarelli. Joe Biden won in 2020, not Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, while AOC has gone quiet. The share of the electorate identifying as “very liberal,” “liberal” or “somewhat liberal” has dropped, according to Morning Consult. Maybe it’s the pandemic, maybe it’s social media, maybe it’s the existential gloom of Gen Z’ers, but America has become more moderate.

I don’t think Bill de Blasio could win a New York City election anymore.

This puts cerulean Phil Murphy out of touch with ordinary American voters. I bet he knows this. But if he can recalibrate his image to appear less elitist than an Italian mansion-owning/former Goldman Sachs hedge fund manager, he may be able to moderate his “progressive” proclivities and appeal to a wider audience.

Why waste all those new hair plugs, Governor? Give it a ponder.