The campaign for Gov. Phil Murphy chastised Jack Ciattarelli for not conceding the New Jersey governor’s race, insisting there is “no mathematical path forward” for the Republican to win.
Mollie Binotto, the campaign director for the Democratic incumbent, shared a memo on Monday in which she called on Ciattarelli to admit defeat nearly a week after the election on Tuesday. The GOP candidate continuing to hold out, long after the Associated Press and other news outlets projected Murphy to be the winner, is a “cynical game” that will “sow doubt in our Democracy,” she said.
“Overcoming historical trends and a challenging national environment, Governor Phil Murphy has won re-election against Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli,” Binotto wrote in her memo. “The race has been called by the Associated Press, NBC Decision Desk, CNN, Dave Wasserman of Cook Political Report, and Steve Kornacki, among other well-respected outlets and election analysts.”
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“This was not a close race — it just seemed that way given the delayed reporting of votes on Tuesday night,” Binotto added.
New Jersey’s gubernatorial election was closer than experts anticipated, with Murphy being declared the winner by a slim margin against his Republican challenger on Wednesday.
Ciattarelli’s campaign accused the media of being “irresponsible” and calling the election too early.
“No one should be declaring victory or conceding the election until every legal vote is counted,” Ciattarelli said in a video Thursday. He also noted “thousands” of provisional ballots and mail-in votes have yet to be counted.
As of an update on Friday, the Associated Press reported Murphy had 50.9% support with 1,285,457 votes to Ciattarelli’s 48.3% with 1,220,003 votes.
“Murphy’s lead currently stands at 65,404 votes (2.59% margin), with the margin growing each day,” Binotto said. She said the governor’s lead against his Republican opponent was even “larger than Glenn Youngkin‘s in Virginia.”
“The race is over. Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli is mathematically eliminated, and he must accept the results and concede the race,” Binotto said. “His continuing failure to do so is an assault on the integrity of our elections.”
In a statement provided to the Washington Examiner, Mark Sheridan, the legal counsel for the Ciattarelli campaign, said, “Waiting an additional day or two for all votes to be counted should not be controversial.”
Nobody from the campaign is “alleging fraud or malfeasance” but rather they are being cautious with regard to the election results due to the use of vote-by-mail ballots, “new technology and new counting procedures,” he added.
“We understand that Gov. Murphy and his team are embarrassed that in a state with 1 million more registered Democrats and where Joe Biden won by 16 points, they are leading by such a small margin,” said Chris Russell, a strategist for the Ciattarelli campaign.
Even with the outstanding votes to be counted, Jack Ciattarelli knows there is no mathematical path forward. A failure to concede is a challenge to the integrity of our election. His team is playing a cynical game that they know will only sow doubt in our Democracy. pic.twitter.com/H8tLaf8YFB
— Mollie Binotto (@mollieb45) November 8, 2021
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In some places across the state, mail-in ballots were still rolling in throughout last week, and provisional ballots were not expected to be opened until Monday.
Timely mailed, postmarked mail-in ballots (those postmarked by Nov. 2) to county boards of election can be counted through Monday, according to New Jersey’s Department of State.
After media outlets declared him the projected winner, Murphy delivered a victory speech, telling supporters that “it took 44 years to get here.” Murphy’s apparent reelection marks the first time since 1977 that a Democratic governor has been reelected.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Murphy’s office for a statement but did not immediately receive a response back.
