New Jersey governor's race between Phil Murphy and Jack Ciattarelli too close to call
Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy faced off against Republican Jack Ciattarelli.
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy and Republican Jack Ciattarelli were virtually deadlocked early Wednesday after a campaign centered on the incumbent's progressive policies and handling of the pandemic.
Neither ABC News nor the Associated Press has not declared a winner in the race as votes from Tuesday's election were still being tallied on a night that imparted some bad omens for Democrats.
Murphy had been leading in the polls, has a 1 million-voter registration advantage and had more cash in his campaign coffers than Ciattarelli in the final days of the race. But the Republican has far surpassed the Republican nominee from four years ago in fundraising and has seen the gap in public polls move in his favor - if only by a few points.
At Murphy's election night party in Asbury Park's convention hall, the crowd went from cheering early results reported on TV to milling around the cavernous venue and checking their phones. At Ciattarelli's camp in Bridgewater, the crowd was breaking out into periodic cheers.
At 12:30 a.m., Ciattarelli said he couldn't yet declare a victory because votes remained to be counted, but said he fully expected to make a victory declaration once that happens.
"We've sent a message to the entire nation. This is what I love about this state: Every single time it's gone too far off track, the people of this state have pushed, pulled and prodded it right back to where it needs to be," he told the crowd.
While a Ciattarelli win would send a jolt through state and national politics, a win by Murphy would also break some historical trends.
No Democrat has won reelection as governor in New Jersey since Brendan Byrne in 1977, and the party opposite the president's has won the New Jersey governorship going back to 1985.
An enthusiastic Murphy also appeared onstage, hopeful for a win.
"When every vote is counted, and every vote will be counted, we hope to have a celebration," he said.
New Jersey does not have an automatic recount law, but the candidates are permitted to request one. The party that wants a recount has to file a suit in State Superior Court in the counties where they want to contest tallies. That has to be done within 17 days of Election Day.
Murphy has campaigned as a solid progressive, with a record to show for it. He signed bills into law that expanded voting access, provided for taxpayer-funded pre-K and community college, hiked the minimum wage to $15 an hour over time along with opening up the state to renewable energy like wind power.
Ciattarelli's campaign seized on comments Murphy made that New Jersey probably isn't for voters whose top issue is taxes, casting the governor as out of touch with a concern many prioritize.
He also sought support from those who disagreed with Murphy's handling of COVID-19. At a recent campaign rally in Hazlet when someone in the audience asked about mandates, Ciattarelli said there'd be none under his administration - an allusion to mask and vaccination mandates.
He also implicitly criticized critical race theory in schools, saying that "we are not going to teach our children to feel guilty." Critical race theory is a method of thinking of America's history through the lens of racism that has become a political lightning rod of the Republican Party.
Polls showed Murphy got solid support for his handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, which hit New Jersey hard in early 2020 and resulted in the deaths of more than 25,000 people. About a third of those deaths occurred in nursing and veterans homes. But the state also excelled at getting people vaccinated and was quick to become one of the states with the highest percentages of eligible people to be fully vaccinated.
A lawsuit filed Tuesday evening by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, based on social media posts and local news reports, alleged that dozens of voters were turned away from polls. In some places, that was because electronic tablets used to check in voters struggled to connect to the internet.
The suit, which had sought to extend voting until 9:30 p.m., was denied by the court, the civil rights organization said. A message seeking comment was left with the secretary of state's office, which oversees elections in the state.
Here's the latest on other important races around the nation:
Who will be the next Governor of Virginia?
Republican former business executive Glenn Youngkin has won Virginia's governor's race, a major political turnabout in a state that had been trending increasingly blue.
The win is sure to alarm national Democrats already nervous about holding their party's narrow control of Congress in next year's midterm elections.
The 54-year-old Youngkin is a political newcomer and was a virtual unknown at the start of the race.
He beat Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who served as governor from 2014 to 2018.
President Joe Biden won Virginia by a comfortable 10 percentage points last year, but that disappeared as Youngkin beat back the Democrats' efforts to portray him as a clone of former President Donald Trump.
New York City mayoral race
Democrat Eric Adams has been elected New York City mayor after handily defeating Republican Curtis Sliwa, according to the Associated Press.
Adams is the Brooklyn borough president and a former New York City police captain. He will become the city's second Black mayor and must steer the damaged metropolis through its recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
Adams' victory Tuesday seemed all but assured after he emerged as the winner from a crowded Democratic primary this summer in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans 7 to 1.
Sliwa is the founder of the Guardian Angels anti-crime patrol. He ran a campaign punctuated by stunts and his signature red beret.
The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this story.
