New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has clinched a second term after defeating former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (R) in the state’s unexpectedly tight gubernatorial contest.
The Associated Press called the race for Murphy Wednesday evening, with the governor edging out Ciattarelli by a 50.02-49.23 margin with 90 percent of precincts reporting.
Murphy beat back Ciattarelli in a race that polls had shown slightly narrowed in the final few weeks of the campaign. While New Jersey’s blue hue proved too deep for Ciattarelli to overcome, the former state lawmaker ran far ahead of expectations, holding a lead over Murphy for much of Tuesday night before falling slightly behind in the early morning hours on Wednesday.
Both candidates effectively declared victory early Wednesday morning while saying more votes had to be tabulated, though it was Murphy who ultimately emerged the victor.
Read more at The Hill.
{Matzav.com}
Doesn’t that margin trigger an automatic recount?
Not when the winner is a Democrat…
It may be premature to call this close race with 10% of the vote still to be counted.