The VAAD and Avi Schnall have a working relationship with Murphy, and they have gotten certain things from him. Those things are not insignificant, but they are not necessarily the things Lakewood cares about most.
Things the VAAD/Schnall got:
Hands-off approach to Lakewood during most of Covid
Funding for LSTA every year (though not without teeth-pullilng)
Intervention by State to Facebook about Rise Up, plus strong stance on anti-Semitism
Increased funding for private school security, technology, special-ed, etc.
A good line of communication, so that they can bring potential issues directly to the governor's top brass
Most important things Lakewood residents really want:
Rabbi Eisemann not to be hounded
Route 9 widened
School funding formula fixed
Property taxes lowered
Jack Ciatterelli has promised to address the top priority items, though nobody really knows what he'll actually do once he's elected. The VAAD sees Murphy as a safe choice, because Ciatterelli could be worse, while much of Lakewood sees Murphy as not having done enough, and thus they'd rather bet on an alternative.
That's my assessment of the prevailing sentiment about the two choices.