Democrats call on NJ Republican gubernatorial nominee to concede

New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy’s campaign is calling on his Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli to concede last week’s election, stating Ciattarelli no longer has a path to victory. 

Ciatterelli is a former member of the state legislature. He has remained silent on the election results since last Thursday. The current vote count shows Murphy winning by 2.6 percentage points, which is about 65,000 votes (The Hill).

Mollie Binotto, Murphy’s campaign manager, has called on Ciattarelli to concede, stating, “Assemblyman Ciattarelli is mathematically eliminated, and he must accept the results and conceded the race. His continuing failure to do so is an assault on the integrity of our elections.”

Ciattarelli’s campaign says he will not concede the race to Murphy. The campaign said there’s still about 70,000 provisional ballots left to be counted as well as an unknown number of mail-in ballots. His legal counsel, Mark Sheridan, believes it could narrow the race enough to warrant a recount. 

Sheridan notes “We will make the decision to pursue a recount based on all of the facts, which includes that this is the first time New Jersey is conducting an election under the new law, using new technology and vote counting procedures.”

Under state law, there is no automatic recount and the party seeking must file a suit in state Superior Court in a country where a recount is requested (AP News). The Associated Press and other news outlets called the race for Murphy. The election was one of several that served as a warning sign for Democrats as they head to the 2022 midterms.