New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has become the first Democratic governor in more than four decades to win re-election in the Garden State, according to http://CNN.com.
Murphy’s victory over Republican nominee Jack Ciattarelli, albeit slim, defied the state’s trend of voting in the party out of the White House in its off-year gubernatorial contests. Virginia—the only other with odd-year gubernatorial elections—held to that historical pattern Nov. 2, electing Republican Glenn Youngkin in a resounding blow to Democrats who had made recent gains in the state.
Murphy’s narrow victory may be seen as a verdict on his and other Democratic leaders’ commitments to mask and vaccine mandates, which the governor has championed in a state that has suffered about 28,000 COVID-19 deaths.
Earlier this year, Ciattarelli was shown on video at a campaign stop saying he is against having kindergartners learn about “gender ID and sexual orientation” and sixth-graders about “sodomy,” and that he’d “roll back” new LGBTQ curriculum requirements in the state’s schools, http://NJ.com noted. LGBTQ+-rights advocates quickly denounced the comments.