Governor Phil Murphy prevailed in his gubernatorial race against Republican Jack Ciatterelli.
Phil Murphy won 51.1% of the votes, narrowly defeating Ciatterelli who got 48.2% of the votes. Murphy is the only Democrat to win a second term in the last 4 decades.
The vote wasn’t certified for days because of NJ’s law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted as late as November 8 as long as they were post marked by or on election day. There were also polling problems on election day slowing the count in the most Democratic counties.
During the campaign Murphy and Ciatterelli fired back and forth with aggressive ads and debates, clashing on key issues concerning taxes, policies surrounding COVID and even former President Trump.
In appealing to voters, Murphy promised a $15 minimum wage and tax equity while Ciatterelli spoke about tackling high property taxes.
Monmouth University Polls in mid-August showed Murphy leading amongst Blacks voters by 80%, and 50% with Latino, Asian and multicultural voters while Ciatterelli held a 9% advantage with white voters.
Mercer county voted for Murphy at 65%, his challenger getting 34% of the votes.
Ciattarelli finally conceded on Nov. 12, saying he saw no pathway to victory, hence no basis for a recount that he initially hinted to.
