New Jersey’s political inner sphere is on fire tonight as sources close to the campaign of Jack Ciattarelli have leaked out the news that the GOP candidate for governor is going to accept defeat.
Ciattarelli now trails Murphy by 73,000 votes or 3 full percentage points. With all of the ballots nearly counted, Ciattarelli’s path back to Trenton was impassible days ago.
Despite calls from his base and Republicans to contest the election results, Ciattarelli insiders tonight are saying the candidate will simply concede and not follow through with any claims of election fraud or challenges to the election.
Phil Murphy is the governor of New Jersey.
Ciattarelli’s campaign fumbled the ball at the goal line in an election against an extremely unpopular governor who has faced sharp criticism over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the campaign, Murphy rallied his progressive base, painting Ciattarelli as the second coming of Donald Trump, on a mission to take aware their social services, spread COVID-19, and force them back to work against their will.
Ciattarelli’s campaign maintained all campaign long that their candidate was not Phil Murphy. Ciattarelli failed to invigorate the conservative base in New Jersey upset with him over his attacks against the former President.
Ciattarelli will announce his concession in his hometown of Raritan on Friday. The campaign is his second consecutive loss in his quest to be governor of New Jersey. In 2017, Ciattarelli lost to former Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno.
Murphy called Ciattarelli’s delay in conceding a dangerous assault on the integrity of the election process.