Former Truck Driver Who Spent Just $153 On Campaign Nearly Unseats NJ State Senate Leader

The governor’s race in the Garden State is still too close to call, but there’s another electoral battle unfolding in America’s most highly taxed state that hasn’t made too many headlines, but it almost equally as surprising – and illustrative of just how badly the Democrats performed during an off-year election that (per VP Kamala Harris’s own words) should serve as a wakeup call to the party amid its leftward shift.

In New Jersey, State Senate President Steve Sweeney, who has led the state’s senate since 2010, is locked in a tight race with his GOP challenger, a political newcomer and former truck driver named Edward Durr, who reported spending just $153 on his campaign.

According to the latest numbers from the AP Wednesday morning, Sweeney was holding on to an uncomfortably slim lead over Durr, who describes himself as politically conservative, with 158 of the District’s 159 precincts reporting. Sweeney is ahead of Durr by roughly 3K votes in the South Jersey district.

But Sweeney isn’t the only State Senate Democrat in trouble in the state. Democratic incumbents Adam Taliaferro and John Burzichelli are trailing their GOP opponents, Beth Sawyer and Bethanne McCarthy Patrick in the GA race.

All vote totals right now are still unofficial pending certification, and it could take several days for mail-in ballots to be counted.

New Jersey Democrats lost some seats on Election Night, although they will likely hold on to their majority in the State Senate. But if Sweeney does lose his seat, the Chamber’s Dems would need to pick a new leader.

According to Patch.com, Sweeney has served in the NJ state Senate since 2002, representing the 3rd Legislative District which includes the towns of Alloway, Bridgeton, Carneys Point, Clayton, Deerfield, East Greenwich, Elk, Elmer, Elsinboro, Franklin, Glassboro, Greenwich , Logan, Lower Alloways Creek, Mannington, National Park, Newfield, Oldmans, Paulsboro, Penns Grove, Pennsville, Pilesgrove, Pittsgrove, Quinton, Salem, South Harrison, Swedesboro, Upper Deerfield, Upper Pittsgrove, West Deptford, Woodbury Heights, Woodstown and Woolwich, in Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem counties.

Meanwhile, some are already raising questions about the numbers being reported in the gubernatorial race, where Gov. Murphy reportedly leads by a margin of roughly 20 basis points, per AP vote totals, making it still too close to call

The RNC lawyers need to investigate why Bergen County New Jersey after 100% reported with Ciattarelli having won 52% to 47% all of a sudden flipped to Murphy 51% – Ciattarelli 47%.

— Jason D. Meister 🇺🇸 (@jason_meister) November 3, 2021

Should the gubernatorial race necessitate a recount, Fox News explains how NJ’s recount system works. Recounts can only be triggered in NJ if a candidate requests one. There are no automatic thresholds.

“When any candidate at any election shall have reason to believe that an error has been made in counting the votes of that election, the candidate may, within a period of 17 days following such election, apply to a judge of the Superior Court assigned to the county wherein such district or districts are located, for a recount of the votes cast at the election in any district or districts,” according to New Jersey law.

A recount would be led by a county board under the direction of a judge. Should a judge grant an application for a recount, the candidate has to pay a deposit for each district being recounted. The deposit amounts are based on the number of votes, but are capped at $25 per district. If the margin of votes counted between the first count and the recount varies by at least 10 votes (or 10% of votes cast) then the state government will bear the cost of the recount. Otherwise, the cost will be taken from the candidate’s campaign deposit.