Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for governor of New Jersey, conceded the race to Democratic incumbent Phil Murphy on Friday, after he vastly outperformed expectations and hoped the margin between them would narrow enough to warrant a recount.
“I called Gov. Murphy earlier today and congratulated him on his reelection, and wished him well serving the people of New Jersey,” Ciattarelli told reporters at a press conference in Raritan Borough.
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In the months prior to Election Day, Ciattarelli trailed Murphy by double digits, but he closed that margin. That prompted national Democrats, including President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama, to visit the Garden State to campaign for Murphy.
The race turned out to be much closer and was too close to call on election night, but Murphy was projected the winner the following day.
Ciattarelli did not immediately concede when the race was called, saying he wanted to wait for the remaining mail-in and provisional ballots to be counted. But as those ballots came in, Murphy’s lead grew to nearly 3 percentage points on Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
Ciattarelli told supporters there was no path to victory and dismissed “unfounded conspiracy theories” of fraud in the results. But he said his near-victory should send “a powerful message to Trenton” and Democratic lawmakers about governing too far to the left.
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Republicans made gains down-ballot in New Jersey, including Edward Durr, a truck driver who unseated Stephen Sweeney, the longtime Democratic New Jersey Senate president.
