N.J. Gov. Phil Murphy has won reelection by a narrower-than-expected margin, beating Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli, according to the Associated Press.
The gubernatorial election was not called until the evening after election day as mail-in ballots and provisional ballots needed time to be counted. For much of Wednesday, the two candidates were separated by a few hundred votes.
Ciattarelli’s campaign apparently has no plans to concede, saying the election is “far from over.”
Although Ciattarelli lost the race, he earned 49.22% of the vote outperforming the Monmouth University Polling Institute’s October prediction that he would win 40% of the vote. Murphy is the first Democratic New Jersey governor to win re-election since Brendan Byrne in the 1970s.
With 89.82% of expected votes reported in Essex County, Murphy received 72.93% of the vote and Ciattarelli received 26.48%.
Amanda DeJesus can be reached at amanda.dejesus@student.shu.edu.
Listen to our interview of Jack Ciattarelli.
