Ciattarelli, Sweeney waiting to concede after 2021 New Jersey election
Monday is the last day that vote by mail ballots postmarked on Election Day will be accepted by local boards of elections.
TRENTON, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Almost a week after Election Day, candidates in two high profile New Jersey races have not conceded.
Monday is the last day that vote by mail ballots postmarked on Election Day will be accepted by local boards of elections.
In Gov. Phil Murphy's first coronavirus briefing since the election, he addressed the fact that his challenger, Republican Jack Ciattarelli, has not conceded.
"This thing was run fairly, it was run transparently. Every vote will be counted. But when it's mathematically impossible to win, I think it's dangerous," said Murphy.
On Monday afternoon an attorney for Ciattarelli's campaign addressed this, saying while there have been no credible reports of voter fraud, they want to wait until all provisional and mail-in ballots are counted before deciding if they will ask for a recount.
"The odds of them all going in favor of Jack and changing the outcome of this election based on the current timeline is unlikely but that doesn't mean that it doesn't bring it close enough to warrant a recount," said campaign attorney Mark Sheridan.
He added that the recount threshold for the Ciattarelli campaign is about 1% and said they'd have a better idea if they'll request one in the next 48 hours.
Right now Murphy has a lead of approximately 3%, and the race has been called by the Associated Press, ABC News and other outlets.
New Jersey does not have an automatic recount law, but either candidate can request a recount in superior court.
Another politician who has not conceded: Senate President Steve Sweeney, who was ousted by Republican newcomer Ed Durr.
Sweeney, a Democrat, said in a written statement last week that he wants to wait until more votes were counted, holding out hope that mail-in ballots will close the gap.
When Gov. Murphy was asked about Senator Sweeney waiting to concede, he said: "Senate President Sweeney deserves - I don't know his race in terms of the numbers of votes - but I think he thinks at least he does have a mathematical shot, and we should have the respect to let that play out."
Multiple media outlets have called the race for Durr, who issued an apology statement last week after derogatory and racist social media posts surfaced after the election.
Action News reached out to Durr for an interview on Monday, but did not hear back.
Action News also reached out to Sweeney for comment but did not hear back on Monday.
