Anyone hoping for an answer Wednesday morning on who would be the next governor of New Jersey will be disappointed, as the two major candidates concluded their election night celebrations without a clear winner.
Results showed Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and the Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli less than a percentage point apart with 98% of precincts reporting, but thousands of votes, provisional ballots and mail-in ballots still not counted.
The latest numbers from the Associated Press showed Ciattarelli with 49.7% of the votes and Murphy with 49.6%.
“We’re going to have to wait a little while longer than we hoped,” Murphy said to his supporters in Asbury Park, shortly after midnight. “We’re going to wait for every vote to be counted. That’s how our democracy works.”
Gov. Phil Murphy at the NJ Transit Maintenance facility in Kearny on Oct. 25, 2021 with President Joe Biden. –
Murphy continued that “we’re all sorry that tonight cannot yet be the celebration we wanted it to be. But when every vote is counted – and every vote will be counted – we hope to have a celebration.”
Ciattarelli, holding a lead over Murphy for much of the evening, presided over a more festive atmosphere at his Bridgewater election night watch party.
“I wanted to come out here tonight because I prepared one hell of a victory speech,” Ciattarelli told supporters also shortly after midnight. “I wanted to come out here tonight because we won. But I’m here to tell you that we’re winning.”
The race, in which Murphy had been widely seen as a heavy favorite, rattled the Democratic establishment across the state, with several legislative races in New Jersey trending in the GOP’s direction.
Should Murphy lose, he would fall victim to a historical trend that has limited every New Jersey Democratic governor since 1977 to just one term.
Murphy led Ciattarelli in polls and outpaced him both in spending and fundraising on the campaign trail.
“You know those polls?” Ciattarelli – an accountant by trade and previously the founder of a medical journal – told supporters after midnight. “There’s only one poll that matters.”
Ciattarelli portrayed himself as the Main Street candidate who would push through deregulation for businesses and lower taxes. He has painted Murphy as a wealthy and out-of-touch non-New Jersey native, even poking fun out how the current governor eats pizza.
Former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli declares victory in the Republican primary race to run for governor on June 9, 2021. – DANIEL J. MUNOZ
Murphy has touted his “stronger and fairer” New Jersey message, campaigning on first-term accomplishments such as the $15 minimum wage, paid sick leave and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. He accused Ciattarelli of being a Trump puppet, who would bring the former Republican president’s “extreme” agenda to the state.
In Gloucester County, the state Senate’s most powerful official, Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-3rd District, holds a thin lead over Republican challenger Ed Durr, who according to media reports had only raised $10,000 – and spent $153 – for his campaign.
The two Democratic Assembly Members in the 3rd District, including Assembly Appropriations Committee Chair John Burizchelli, are trailing their Republican challengers.
Several state lawmakers eyeing an ascension to the state Senate, including Assemblymen Andrew Zwicker, 16th District, and Vince Mazzeo, 2nd District, also risk losing to their Republican challengers, as does Sen. Vin Gopal, 11th-Distrcit, one of the youngest members of the state Legislature.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story indicated that Republican legislative candidate Ed Durr had only raised a few hundred dollars for his campaign; that was incorrect. Durr raised $10,000, but only spent the few hundred dollars, the story was updated at 10:40 a.m. EST on Nov. 3, 2021.
