Live: 2021 New Jersey Election Results
Live coverage & analysis of New Jersey’s Governor’s race
So begins another election battle.
Earlier tonight the Associated Press called the New Jersey gubernatorial election for Democratic incumbent Phil Murphy. The AP judgment seems rushed.
As of this time, the candidates are still separated by less than one percent. NBC news among others did not feel comfortable calling Murphy the victor when the AP did, but this should be of little comfort. With press deadlines and competition for clicks, readers, and ratings, other outlets will soon file stories declaring Murphy the victor as to not lose out on public interest.
This onslaught of headlines will establish a narrative and put pressure on Republican Jack Ciattarelli to concede.
As reported earlier, the New Jersey GOP has deployed 20 lawyers to ensure a fair count. Good.
The AP likely made the call based on the location and type of outstanding ballot: mail-in ballots from Blue areas. Essex County, home to the City of Newark, is one of those areas. The county has hovered at 90% completed since the early morning hours while most other counties have reported themselves as being complete.
However, as Ciattarelli and the party have stated, it is currently unknown how many ballots are left. Add to this the fact that mail-in ballots can be counted until next Tuesday — as long as they were postmarked on Election Day — and you have a real mess on your hands.
It will be a tense few days in the Garden State.
This will conclude my live coverage of the election — not because the AP called the race, but because updates are likely to be too infrequent and this opinion column, not a news desk that specializes in live journalism. I thank everyone who has stopped by; this was an amazing success.
I will be back tomorrow with updates and analysis in my usual format. Please consider signing up for free.
As of 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday
Phil Murphy — D (Incumbent) 50.12% with 1,217,043 votes
Jack Ciattarelli — R 49.28% with 1,193,262 votes
90% reporting
Old Analysis
As of 4:27 p.m. on Wednesday
Phil Murphy — D (Incumbent) 49.97% with 1,203,602 votes
Jack Ciattarelli — R 49.28% with 1,186,985 votes
89% reporting
Vote counts continue to trickle in. As the evening sets in, Democratic Incumbent Governor Phil Murphy has pulled ahead of his Republican challenger, Jack Ciattarelli by around 25,000 votes.
Right now, both campaigns are certainly gearing up for legal fights over mail-in and provisional ballots with only the GOP announcing that they have deployed an election integrity team.
On Twitter, the official account for the New Jersey GOP stated that they have deployed “20 lawyers to NJ as counting continues.”
“Every legal vote will be counted & our election integrity team (the largest such team ever assembled) will be scrutinizing the process to ensure that’s the case & that we get [Jack Ciattarelli] elected Governor,” the tweet continued.
Only an additional 1% of votes have been added since last night, but that was enough for Murphy to close the gap and overtake his opponent.
In a surprising turn of events, though, long-time state Senator Steven Sweeney (D-Gloucester) appears to be losing to his Republican challenger, Ed Durr. Sweeney has been a staple in New Jersey politics for years and is an ally of the influential South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross.
Old Analysis
As of 02:50 a.m.
Phil Murphy — D (Incumbent) 49.60% with 1,172,365 votes
Jack Ciattarelli — R 49.65% with 1,173,558 votes
88% reporting
As the late-night turns into the early morning, votes continue to be counted, and the race remains a nail-biter.
The race has narrowed from one where there was a 10,000-vote split, to one where there is a 1,000-vote difference.
Currently, Essex County, home of the Blue City of Newark, continues to loom large as votes in the farm-country of Salem County begin to be added to the tally.
Phil Murphy, the incumbent Democratic governor, has taken the lead in Burlington County over his Republican challenger, Jack Ciattarelli after mail-in votes covered the Republican’s 10-point lead.
Sussex County has gone for Ciattarelli by over 30-points — though, Sussex has been reporting as 100% reported since it first started adding votes.
Gloucester County, who went for Biden in 2020, has flipped to Republicans giving Jack Ciattarelli an 11-point lead there. Some long-time Democratic County Commissioners and the sheriff have been unseated.
With a tenth of a point separating Ciattarelli and Murphy, the race may very well come down to mail-in votes that may be counted until Tuesday.
A race being decided by mail-in votes is a worst-case scenario that may cause legal wrangling and angry voters.
Counties to Watch
Burlington County: Burlington County went in heavy for Joe Biden, bringing the Democrat to a 15.9-point victory. However, this county contains part of Rep. Andy Kim’s district, which, before the 2018 midterms that saw a huge influx of Democrats elected to Congress, elected Republican Representative Tom MacArthur for two terms and Republican Jon Runyan for two terms before that.
Gloucester County: Gloucester was much a much closer race in 2020 than Burlington County. Joe Biden only beat Trump by around 3,000 votes — or 1.9%. The County historically sends Democrats to state and federal legislatures. However, currently, with around 90% of its precincts reporting, Jack Ciattarelli has about a 10-point lead of Murphy. This could represent a bellwether moment in the results.
Cape May County: The opposite situation is occurring in Cape May County. Murphy led early on before Ciattarelli overtook him. In 2020, the county gave Trump a 16-point victory over Biden. The county also reelected Representative Jeff Van Drew after he switched to the Republican party and received an endorsement from Donald Trump. Cape May is identified as a “pivot county” because, prior to Trump, is elected Barack Obama for two terms. Update: As of 11:03 p.m., Cape May has finished counting with Ciattarelli ahead by over 30-points.
Ocean County: As of 10:45 p.m., Ocean County — which makes up another chunk of Democrat Andy Kim’s district — is heavily leaning toward Jack Ciattarelli. With 85% of the vote reported, the Republican leads 68%-31%.
Camden County: While certainly not a swing county, it boasts a population of over 500,000 in a much smaller area than neighboring Burlington County. At 11:20 p.m., over 80% of the vote is in here with Murphy leading by seven points.
Essex County: Solidly blue and densely populated with a population nearing 800,000, this county, home to the City of Newark, is just beginning to trudge its way through its votes. This could see the entire race change later on.
Bergen County: This county is the most populated county in the state. It went for Biden in 2020 by six points or about 80,000 votes. As of 11:28 p.m., Ciattarelli is in the lead here 52%-47% with 98% reporting. Ciattarelli’s win here is important for the Republican because there are still so many outstanding votes to be counted in nearby Essex County.
In Virginia
Fox News, The New York Times both call Virginia for Glenn Youngkin the Republican challenging the Democratic Incumbent.
As of 12:39 a.m.
>95% reporting
Glenn Youngkin (R) 50.9% with 1,626,024 votes
Terry McAuliffe (D) Incumbent 48.4% with 1,543,933 votes
Elsewhere
Democrat Eric Adams has won the mayoral race in New York City. Adams won a difficult ranked-choice primary by campaigning on law-and-order issues after the previous administration of Bill Deblasio saw a spike in crime.
Minneapolis voters rejected a bill to defund and replace their police department.
The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros to win the World Series
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