Ciattarelli, Murphy in too close to call race for New Jersey governor. Here’s the latest – NorthJersey.com

Incumbent Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy narrowly trailed Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli on Wednesday morning with ballots — many of them vote-by-mail — in Democratic-rich areas yet to be counted. 

With nearly 98% of precincts reporting early Wednesday morning, Ciattarelli held a mere 1,200 vote lead in the contest to decide the next governor, according to The Associated Press. 

Enthusiasm ran high at Ciattarelli’s Election Night headquarters in Bridgewater as early results showed him ahead of the popular incumbent Murphy, who led in all public polling in the race. 

“I wanted to come out here tonight and tell you that we won. But I’m here to tell you that we’re winning, we’re winning,” Ciattarelli said in a speech early Wednesday morning. 

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The Murphy event in Asbury Park became more subdued over time, but as the night wore on there still had not been complete results from deep-blue areas such as Essex and Passaic counties.

In a speech just before Ciattarelli, Murphy apologized to supporters “that tonight could not yet be the celebration we wanted it to be.” But “when every vote is counted — and every vote will be counted — we hope to have a celebration.” 

NJ election results 2021:See live results for Governor, Senate, sports betting and more

In addition to the uncounted ballots, there were also about 700,000 early and mail-in votes to tally. 

Still, Ciattarelli’s strong performance in Republican strongholds and in voter-dense Bergen County spelled trouble for Murphy, who is seeking to become the first Democratic since 1977 to win a second term.

Ciattarelli received more votes in Ocean County than the last Republican governor, Chris Christie, did in 2009 and 2013, according to the AP and the Secretary of State’s office. He performed similarly to Christie in Monmouth County, too.

Those two counties and Bergen are crucial to any Republican victory. But there are also 1 million more registered Democrats than Republicans statewide, giving Murphy a significant advantage. 

That surplus of Democrats showed its strength late Tuesday. A three-point lead by Ciattarelli quickly narrowed to half a point shortly after midnight when a bulk of Essex County’s votes were tallied.

In Virginia, the country’s only other gubernatorial election this year, Republican Glenn Youngkin beat Democrat Terry McAuliffe in another tight race.

Similar to that race, New Jersey’s took on a more national flavor than in years past, when state spending and property taxes dominated. Ciattarelli leaned heavily in the last few days of the race on his message that Murphy is free-spending executive with no regard for taxpayers.

And as he did throughout the campaign, Murphy portrayed Ciattarelli as a Trump loyalist who caters to the extremist wing of the Republican Party. 

“This year, the campaigns themselves have become nationalized,” said Ashley Koning, director of Rutgers University’s Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling.

“The race has become more about referendums on the national parties, politicians and policies rather than on New Jersey-centric issues, and more about automatic partisan-based opposition than genuine support of either candidate or their positions.”

The Rutgers poll, the last of the race, said 24% of voters were casting ballots in opposition to, not in support of, the candidates. When asked why they were voting for a certain candidate, they said things like their choice is “better than the other guy” or the “lesser of two evils,” the poll said.

Issues were not much of a factor in voters’ decisions. According to the poll, 6% cited the pandemic as influential and 6% mentioned taxes or the economy.

With turnout typically low in New Jersey’s off-year gubernatorial elections, Murphy and Ciattarelli spent the weekend and into Tuesday rallying voters to the polls while independent groups spent heavily on advertising.

The day started late in some polling locations while others had trouble with things like connecting to electronic poll books, according to a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of New Jersey and League of Women Voters on Tuesday evening.

The organizations sought to extend polling hours past the 8 p.m. closing time, but a Mercer County Superior Court judge, William Anklowitz, dismissed the suit. 

“I can’t find that anybody would be disenfranchised based on the evidence provided,” Anklowitz said. 

He noted that the late hour of the hearing, which began after 6:30 p.m., “would cause such disarray as to call the integrity of the process into question.”

Whomever is declared the winner, he will be charged with leading the state out of the COVID-19 crisis.

A Ciattarelli victory could mean no more vaccine requirements for workers or mask mandates in schools. In an interview Tuesday on 1010 WINS, Ciattarelli suggested he would lift the current requirement for certain workers to get vaccinated or regular COVID testing.

“I’m never going to have a government tell any adult or parent that their child has to be vaccinated,” Ciattarelli said. “We’re not going to do that in New Jersey, nor are we going to have front-line workers lose their jobs after everything they did for us at the height of the pandemic a year and a half ago.”

Murphy, who has earned high approvals for his handling of the pandemic, has said more restrictions are possible but, as he told 1010 WINS on Tuesday, “I don’t think we need it. I feel like the package we have in place is the right package.”

Although Ciattarelli tried to focus the campaign on kitchen table issues like property taxes and affordability, policy was not a feature of this election season. Murphy did not outline his vision beyond “moving New Jersey forward” and declined again Monday during a press briefing to say what his priorities would be if elected to a second term.

“We want to make sure that we have a state that is growing in the economy and that is fairer for a lot of folks where we haven’t been fair in our state’s history. I think we’ve made significant progress and I hope we can continue,” he said.

Ciattarelli, on the other hand, has promised to overhaul the state’s school funding formula, revise the tax code and lower property taxes. Yet throughout the campaign he was dogged by his attendance at a “Stop the Steal” rally and fending off the label of being a Trump extremist.

The pandemic, spending and taxes were on the top of some voters’ minds as they entered voting booths. 

In Dover, in western Morris County, 70-year-old Gail Rodriguez said she voted for Ciattarelli because she thinks the state is headed in the wrong direction.

“People of value are leaving. Taxes are high,” said Rodriguez, who is retired.

Both candidates have pledged not to raise new taxes if elected. 

Just after the polls opened at 6 a.m. in Morris Plains, Billy Houston cast his ballot for Murphy, citing education and taxes as his top concerns.

“I like the job the governor has been doing,” said Houston, 42, who is a project manager, a husband and father of two elementary school children.

Charles DeNise, a 44-year resident of Toms River, said he was backing Murphy because of his leadership in the pandemic. 

“He (Murphy) was a driving force in the initial stages, and I think a lot of what he did in the beginning is starting to pay dividends,” DeNise said.  “New Jersey is at the forefront of controlling this pandemic, and I think he’s the man.”

Staff writers Jerry Carino, Mary Chao and Mike Davis contributed to this article.

Dustin Racioppi is a reporter in the New Jersey Statehouse. For unlimited access to his work covering New Jersey’s governor and political power structure, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: racioppi@northjersey.com 

Twitter: @dracioppi