Ever since 1989, New Jersey holds the record to elect an opposition party governor from the president in time. This year however, expectations are high from Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy to be re-elected in the New Jersey governor election and break that streak.
The current status is tied between the two opposition candidates Gov. Phil Murphy and Republican Jack Ciattarelli, both standing at 49.6% in the New Jersey governor election. Ciattarelli is 61 votes ahead of Murphy with 1,172,426 votes in total against Murphy’s 1,172,365.
This turn of events is tough and unprecedented by Murphy’s campaign team’s remarks, but they are confident they will lead after the outstanding votes come in. This is the same area where President Joe Biden beat former President Donald Trump by 16 points in the 2020 election.
The ballot on the New Jersey governor election includes two measures, with both parties having a lead in each. The two measures are; Permit Betting on Postseason College Sports, Amend Gaming Rules to Permit Fund-Raising Raffles. The former question has a red majority leaning with 57% negative answers and the latter one has blue, with 64% positive answers.
The majority registered voters in New Jersey are democratic, leading republicans by more than a million. But this close call could be a result of the state’s voters being more favorable of moderate republicans/GOP candidates over democratic candidates.
If Murphy wins this close New Jersey governor election race, he would become the first democratic governor to win reelection in the last 40+ years in the state. However, if not, this could worsen the blow on Democrats after the early morning Republican victory called in Virginia. Republican candidate, Glenn Youngkin, 54, beat Democratic Terry McAuliffe, saying “All righty, Virginia, we won this thing! How much fun!” addressing his supporters after the win.
Adding, “Together, we will change the trajectory of this commonwealth and friends, we are going to start that transformation on day one. There is no time to waste.” Youngkin is among Republican members who actively refrain from mentioning or bringing Trump up in their campaigns.
