People didn't like Donald Trump, plain and simple."
The "election results of 2017 and maybe 20 were misinterpreted as some endorsement of big spending, left-leaning economic policies," DuHaime added. In the years since Murphy was elected, Democrats picked up seats in the House New Jersey added more registered Democrats and Biden defeated Trump by 16 percentage points last year.īut Tuesday was the first time in four years that voters had their say on Murphy, who raised several taxes and borrowed $4 billion in the COVID-19 pandemic to cushion the blow from projected economic losses. Ciattarelli made the state's high taxes a key plank of his campaign. Jon Corzine in 2009.Ĭiattarelli's strong support in Republican areas and low turnout in Democratic ones shared similarities with the 2009 election that put Christie in office.Ĭonsidering that Murphy won by 14 percentage points in 2017, such a close contest this year is "an incredible turnaround" that shows "New Jersey is a tax-sensitive and affordability-sensitive state," he said. The unpopularity of President Joe Biden and gridlock among Democrats in Washington likely had an effect on New Jersey's elections, said Mike DuHaime, a Republican strategist who was integral to Chris Christie's upset defeat of Democratic Gov. "This was very much a referendum on Murphy, and he hasn’t excited voters," said Dan Cassino, director of the Fairleigh Dickinson University poll, which, like all others, showed Murphy with a strong lead over Ciattarelli.
The backlash was so intense that the state's second-most-powerful Democrat, Senate President Stephen Sweeney, faced potential defeat at the hands of an unknown truck driver, Edward Durr, who spent $153 in the general election compared with Sweeney's nearly $500,000. At the very least, his coattails will be questioned if Democrats lose seats in the Legislature, as they were on pace to do in several districts. Pascrell did not name Murphy, but the governor is the leader of the Democratic Party in New Jersey and topped the ticket in Tuesday's election versus Ciattarelli. Who is Jack Ciattarelli? The Republican giving Democrats a scare in New JerseyĮlection results live updates: Biden says 'people are upset and uncertain' NJ gov race nearly tied Down-ballot backlash He added that Democrats were elected to show they are "fighting for regular Americans and against powerful interests," and "if we don’t deliver then we won’t deserve to govern.”
Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson, said in a statement. "These results should be an alarm clock rousing us from sleep," Rep. Several members will likely be vulnerable to Republican challenges in next year's midterms.Įven one of the senior Democratic members of Congress acknowledged the warnings in Tuesday's elections. Instead, it could be days or longer before a winner is declared, because the race was so close Wednesday and mail-in ballots had to be counted.Įven if Murphy defeats challenger Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican Party is energized in ways it hasn't been in years, and Murphy could hardly claim he has a mandate to build on the progressive framework he built out in his first term, political analysts said.īut as close as the race stood on Wednesday, many interpreted the results as a wake-up call for Democrats statewide and for New Jersey's congressional delegation. Murphy's lead in all public polls, his moneyed apparatus, his marquee endorsements and the advantage of having a million more registered Democrats than Republicans did not translate into a decisive victory Tuesday night - or even a projected one. New Jersey's gubernatorial race, widely considered to be a sleepy contest favoring incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy, has suddenly become the country's most-watched election as a potential bellwether for next year's congressional midterms. Watch Video: NJ governor's race: What we know now
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