[National Review] Democratic New Jersey governor Phil Murphy was reelected to a second term on Tuesday, narrowly defeating Republican challenger and former assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli.
The win marks the first time in 44 years that a Democratic incumbent governor has won reelection in the Garden State. However, the close results could spell trouble for Democrats going into the 2022 midterms.
Networks called the race at about 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Ninety percent of ballots were reported at that time, with Murphy at 1,210,997 votes and Ciattarelli with 1,191,703 votes, according to the New York Times.
"If you asked anybody several months ago within the state, I think anyone would have predicted a high double digit landslide for Murphy," Ashley Koning, head of the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling at Rutgers University, told the Associated Press.
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