New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli has refused to concede the race to Democrat Phil Murphy as the two candidates are less than one percent apart with many votes still uncounted.
“The governor’s victory speech last night was premature,” Ciattarelli said in a Twitter video Thursday. “No one should be declaring victory or conceding the election until every legal vote is counted.”
Time for another Jack Chat.
And this might be the most important one yet, so please watch and share. pic.twitter.com/Nmc03ATpTV
— Jack Ciattarelli (@Jack4NJ) November 4, 2021
“There are still tens of thousands of vote-by-mail and provisional ballots yet to be counted,” he added.
The surprisingly close race could be undecided for days or even weeks. Nov. 8 is the last day mail in ballots can arrive and still be eligible.
Though mail in ballots tend to favor Democrats, both the close margin and the potential for a recount have led Ciattarelli to hold off on conceding the race.
In addition to the close raced, 56 precincts in Essex County were not counted on election day due to what was called “poll worker” error with the new voting machines. The votes will unlikely be tabulated until at least Thursday night.
Murphy may still win, but New Jersey’s conservative candidate isn’t going down until the last vote is counted.
