TRENTON, N.J. (AP) 鈥� New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy narrowly won reelection Wednesday, eking out a victory that spared Democrats the loss of a second gubernatorial seat.
He鈥檚 the state鈥檚 first Democratic governor to get a second straight term in 44 years, defeating Republican former Assembly member Jack Ciattarelli.
AP called the race Wednesday evening when a new batch of votes from Republican leaning Monmouth County increased Murphy鈥檚 lead and closed the door to a Ciattarelli comeback.
Ballots remaining to be counted included a significant number of votes from predominantly Democratic Essex County, along with mail-in votes spread across other counties. Murphy has won the mail-in vote by a wide margin even in Republican leaning counties like Monmouth.
Ciattarelli spokesperson Stami Williams disputed the call because of the close margin, calling it 鈥渋rresponsible.鈥�
Murphy was scheduled to speak later Wednesday.
Ciattarelli waged a formidable campaign in heavily Democratic New Jersey, the governor鈥檚 and outpacing the GOP鈥檚 performance four years ago. But Murphy鈥檚 advantages, including 1 million more registered Democrats, proved too much for the Republican to overcome.
The victory gives Democrats a silver lining after GOP businessman 鈥� exacerbating worries that President Joe Biden鈥檚 sagging approval ratings are hurting the party. This year鈥檚 elections were the first major tests of voter sentiment since Biden took office and pointed to a as they try to maintain thin majorities in Congress.
The closeness of the race has surprised experts, who watched public polls showing Murphy leading comfortably and looked to his party's registration advantage.
鈥淚f you asked anybody several months ago within the state, I think anyone would have predicted a high double digit landslide for Murphy,鈥� said Ashley Koning, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University.
Voters came out at much higher rates for Ciattarelli this year than they did for his GOP predecessor in 2017. While campaigning, he walked a line between standing up for the moderate stances he had in the Legislature 鈥� like supporting Roe v. Wade 鈥� and who embraced Trump, particularly on cultural issues that have captured attention across the country.
Ciattarelli, who stepped down as state Assembly member in 2018 to run for governor, founded a medical publishing company called Galen Publishing, and held local and county positions in Somerset.
Murphy鈥檚 win also ends the more than three-decade-old trend of the party opposite the president鈥檚 winning in New Jersey鈥檚 off-year governor鈥檚 race.
The 64-year-old governor said he was acutely aware of the political trends, calling them an 鈥渁nimating鈥� force for his reelection effort that spurred him to run .
Murphy built his campaign around the progressive accomplishments he signed into law 鈥� like a phased-in $15 an hour minimum wage and paid sick leave along with taxes on the wealthy 鈥� and brought on Democratic allies, like progressive U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, to campaign for him.
With a Democrat-led Legislature, Murphy achieved most of the promises he made in his first run four years ago when he vied to succeed Republican Chris Christie. Taxpayer-financed community college and some pre-K, tighter gun laws, expanded voting access, recreational marijuana, more state aid for schools and a fully funded public pension 鈥� all promised and all delivered during the first term. A proposal for a public bank to finance projects went unfulfilled.
Murphy is a former Goldman Sachs executive and served as ambassador to Germany under former President Barack Obama, who campaigned for Murphy in the weeks before Election Day.
He has said his next term will be about enacting a Reproductive Freedom Act aimed at codifying Roe v. Wade in the state as well as additional gun control laws and the expansion of taxpayer-financed pre-K for 3-year-olds.
Headwinds facing Democrats, like President Joe Biden's falling approval ratings and congressional Democrats' struggles to enact their agenda, didn't factor heavily enough into some experts' preelection analysis, said Ben Dworkin, the director of Rowan University鈥檚 Institute for Public Policy & Citizenship. He counted himself among them.
A spokesperson for Ciattarelli said Wednesday that the campaign was focused on the vote count and said a possible legal pursuit of a recount was on the table. Murphy also called Wednesday morning for every vote to be counted.
New Jersey does not have an automatic recount law, but the candidates are permitted to request one. The party that wants a recount must file a suit in State Superior Court in the counties where they want to contest tallies. That has to be done within 17 days of Election Day.
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Associated Press writer Christina Paciolla contributed to this report.
Mike Catalini, The Associated Press
