2017 NJ election results for governor, top legislative races
Polls closed at 8 p.m. in what was a low-interest but highly consequential election, as New Jersey voters selected a replacement for Gov. Chris Christie and all 120 members of the Senate and Assembly.
As opinion polls had projected, Democrat Phil Murphy trounced Republican Lt. Gov Kim Guadagno, earning more than a million votes. Guadagno had close to 820,000 votes as of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday night.
County freeholders and constitutional officers are also being elected around the state, along with mayors in 42 cities and towns, council members and school-board members. Statewide, voters are also deciding public questions dealing with environmental funding and borrowing for library construction.
But the marquee race, of course, is the election of New Jersey’s 56th governor. Murphy led in public polls throughout the race and had nearly three times the campaign funding of Guadagno.
A spokesman for the New Jersey Democratic State Committee said the party went to court in several counties asking for the vote to be extended, citing the weather, but they were denied.
According to exit polls on Tuesday, corruption was the mostly commonly cited as the top issue, followed by property taxes.
President Donald Trump’s approval ratings are better than Christie’s. Around one-third of voters approve of his job performance while 6 in 10 disapprove strongly.
Still, about 57 percent of voters said Trump wasn’t a factor in their vote. Twenty-nine percent said they cast their votes to express opposition to Trump, while 11 percent said they cast their vote to show support for the president.
Scroll down for live election results being updated tonight.
In the 11th District, Republican state Sen. Jennifer Beck lost to Vin Gopal, the Democratic county chairman. Democrats Joann Downey and Eric Houghtaling held their two Assembly seats that they had won two years ago in a district that had traditionally been more Republican.
The headline legislative race was for the Senate seat in the 3rd District, covering Salem County and much of Cumberland and Gloucester counties. It is the most expensive state legislative race in American history at approximately $20 million, as the New Jersey Education Association unsuccessfully tried to take out Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat.
Elsewhere in South Jersey, the race in the 2nd District in Atlantic County had been closely contested. Republican Assemblyman Chris Brown won the Senate seat held by Colin Bell, who was appointed to complete the term that opened when state Sen. Jim Whelan passed away over the summer. Democrats, however, won both Assembly seats.
In the 16th District in Central Jersey, the parties were battling over a traditionally Republican district whose Assembly delegation was split between the parties. State Sen. Christopher "Kip" Bateman, who had been endorsed by environmental groups, won re-election but his coattails weren't long enough to carry Republicans into the Assembly. Democratic Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker won re-election and brought Democratic candidate Roy Freiman with him.
Results tonight
Numbers will be updated continuously through the evening. Keep refreshing for latest totals.
GOVERNOR
Phil Murphy — 1,113,353
Kim Guadagno — 851,696
Gina Genovese — 11,261
Seth Kaper-Dale — 9,233
Peter Rohrman — 9,739
Vincent Ross — 4,574
Matthew Riccardi — 6,434
2nd LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT
Senate
Colin Bell* 20,528
Chris Brown 24,170
Assembly
Vince Mazzeo* 17,788
Johm Armato 16,649
Vince Sera 13,628
Brenda Taube 13,633
Heather Gordon 746
Mico Lucide 442
3rd LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT
Senate
Steve Sweeney* — 31,158
Fran Grenier — 21,860
Assembly
John Burzichelli* — 31,241
Adam Talafierro — 30,142
Philip Donohue — 21,296
Linwood Donelson III — 9,760
Edward R. Durr — 568
11th LEGISLATIVE
Senate
Jennifer Beck* 25,108
Vin Gopal 28,750
Assembly
Robert Acerra 23,809
Michael Whelan 23,487
Joann Downey* 26,602
Eric Houghtaling* 28,691
16th LEGISLATIVE
Senate
Christopher Bateman* — 31,472
Laurie Poppe — 29,472
Assembly
Donna Simon — 28,403
Mark Caliguire — 27,846
Andrew Zwicker* — 31,572
Roy Freiman — 30,152
To contact an editor about this story, email New Jersey 101.5 Deputy Digital Editor Sergio Bichao at sergio.bichao@townsquaremedia.com