New Jersey Governor-Elect Phil Murphy
Phil Murphy, the incoming governor, campaigned on marijuana legalization.
"The criminalization of marijuana has only served to clog our courts and cloud people’s futures, so we will legalize marijuana," he said during his primary night victory speech. "And while there are financial benefits, this is overwhelmingly about doing what is right and just.”
This summer he tweeted, "NJ's marijuana laws cost $143M/yr & come w a 3:1 racial disparity in arrests."
With Murphy replacing vocal cannabis opponent Chris Christie (R) as governor, New Jersey is poised to potentially become the first state to allow legal recreational marijuana sales with an act of its legislature, as opposed to by voters through a ballot measure.
Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D) is "committed" to bringing up a legalization bill early in 2018. "We are going to have a new governor in January 2018," he said. "As soon as the governor gets situated we are all here and we intend to move quickly on it."
Source~ https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomangell/2017/11/08/marijuana-won-tuesdays-election/#55d6c5a69950