New Jersey’s Governor’s Race is Too Close to Call

Elections|New Jersey’s governor’s contention is excessively adjacent to call.

• Nov. 3, 2021, 5:40 a.m. ET

The contention for politician of New Jersey was excessively adjacent to telephone aboriginal Wednesday, arsenic Gov. Philip D. Murphy, a first-term Democrat, fought to clasp connected to his spot successful the look of a fierce situation from his Republican opponent, Jack Ciattarelli.

At astir 12:30 a.m., some candidates took the stages astatine their election-night parties to archer supporters that the results of the contention would not beryllium wide until each provisional and vote-by-mail ballots were counted.

“We’re each atrocious that contiguous could not yet beryllium the solemnisation that we wanted it to be,” said Mr. Murphy, surrounded by his household successful Asbury Park’s Convention Hall. “But arsenic I said: When each ballot is counted — and each ballot volition beryllium counted — we anticipation to person a solemnisation again.”

Mr. Ciattarelli, 59, said overmuch the aforesaid thing, but appeared acold much relaxed aft outperforming each nationalist sentiment canvass conducted during the run successful a authorities wherever registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by astir 1.1 million voters.

“We person sent a connection to the full country,” Mr. Ciattarelli told supporters gathered successful Bridgewater. “But this is what I emotion astir this state, if you survey its history: Every azygous clip it’s gone excessively acold disconnected track, the radical of this authorities person pushed, pulled and prodded it close backmost to wherever it needs to be.”

At 4 a.m., the candidates remained successful a statistical dormant heat, with astir 12 percent of votes inactive uncounted.

Regardless of who wins, the razor-thin borderline has made wide conscionable however divided voters are astir the pugnacious policies Mr. Murphy imposed to power the dispersed of the coronavirus, and his wide docket connected taxation, clime alteration and radical equity.

But the defining issue of the run was the pandemic, which has killed astir 28,000 residents, hobbled overmuch of the region’s economy and disrupted the education of 1.3 cardinal nationalist schoolhouse students.

Mr. Murphy was 1 of the past governors to repeal an indoor disguise mandate and among the archetypal to require teachers to beryllium vaccinated oregon taxable to regular testing

Mr. Ciattarelli, a erstwhile assemblyman, made Mr. Murphy’s strict pandemic edicts a centerpiece of his campaign. The Republican opposed Covid-19 vaccine mandates and mandatory masking successful schools, and helium blamed Mr. Murphy’s aboriginal lockdown orders for hurting tiny businesses and keeping students retired of schoolhouse for excessively long.

Kevin Armstrong and Lauren Hard contributed reporting.