New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli leads Democrat incumbent Phil Murphy in Tuesday’s race for New Jersey’s governorship with three-fourths of precincts reporting.
The race has not been called and no projected winner has been named, but with 86% of precincts reporting, Ciattarelli leads Murphy 49.7% to 49.56%, according to The New York Times. Murphy is expected to win.
Katherine Landergan, a reporter for Politico, attended Murphy’s election night event and noted that there was a change in mood in the room as election results came in.
“Initially, crowds were cheering when early CNN results were coming in. Now, everything is quieting down. The crowd seems to be thinning out,” she wrote on Twitter. “Things are definitely tense here.”
Initially, crowds were cheering when early CNN results were coming in. Now, everything is quieting down. The crowd seems to be thinning out.
— Katherine Landergan (@klandergan) November 3, 2021
If Murphy does manage to win, a close race will be bad news for Democrats as Democrat President Joe Biden won the state by nearly 16 points in 2020.
Democrats already received bad news on Tuesday night when Republican candidates in Virginia won the governor’s race, attorney general’s race, and lieutenant governor’s race.
Story cited here.