New Jersey’s governor's race doesn’t have the harsh culture-war dynamics that have been so evident elsewhere this year, writes ed_kilgore
Jack Ciattarelli and incumbent Phil Murphy debating. Photo: Frank Franklin II/AP/Shutterstock Throughout this calendar year, there has been intensive national interest in two gubernatorial contests: the California recall election, which Democrat Gavin Newsom handily won; and Virginia’s regular gubernatorial election, which is coming down to a very close finish between Democrat Terry McAuliffe and Republican Glenn Youngkin on November 2.
But Murphy’s lead has been steadily shrinking in fairly sparse public polling: down to nine points among likely voters in a late September survey from Stockton University, and then further down to six points among likely voters in an Emerson poll. This last survey showed undecided voters also leaning towards Ciattarelli. It’s prudent to say that while Murphy remains the favorite, an upset isn’t completely out of the question.
Unlike the California and Virginia races, New Jersey’s doesn’t have the kind of harsh culture-war dynamics that has been so evident elsewhere this year. That’s in part because Ciattarelli is a bit of an old-school New Jersey Republican who favors some abortion rights and isn’t a big favorite of either the National Rifle Association or the MAGA movement. In fact, Ciattarelli has given Donald Trump a wide berth , and defeated two very Trumpy opponents in the June GOP primary.