What Went Down During The 2021 Elections
It’s been difficult to assess what of the outstanding vote is still not processed in New Jersey, but ABC News election data now suggests that there are more than 300,000 votes outstanding across New Jersey’s 21 counties — and per our analysis, they seem more likely to help Murphy than Ciattarelli.
That’s because most of these votes appear to be absentee or provisional ballots — although a handful of counties still have some Election Day votes, too. But we think Murphy still stands to benefit since about two-thirds of the outstanding votes are in counties where Murphy currently leads, and Murphy has been winning absentee votes at a two-to-one rate.
How are President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris — both of whom campaigned in person for Terry McAuliffe — responding to his loss?
When asked about the Virginia results during a press conference about vaccines for children, Biden tied the loss to both the ongoing struggle to pass his legislative agenda, and the lingering influence of Donald Trump.
“I was talking to Terry to congratulate him today. He got 600,000 more votes than any other Democrat has gotten. We brought out every Democrat there was … People want us to get things done. They want us to get things done. And that’s why I am continuing to push very hard for the Democratic Party to move along and pass my infrastructure bill and my Build Back Better bill,” Biden said.
Biden surmised that his agenda “should have passed before Election Day, but I’m not sure that I would be able to have changed the number of very conservative folks who turned out in the red districts who were Trump voters. But maybe. Maybe.”
Speaking to reporters after a press conference on the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which failed a vote to start debate today, Harris said, “It’s no surprise or no secret I supported Terry McAuliffe; I think he would have made a great governor, but it clearly was a fair election and I applaud the governor-elect.”
When a reporter asked about lessons for the Democrats from Virginia, Harris said, “I’m gonna leave that to the pundits, but I will say this: We had great wins, as well as obviously what we talked about in Virginia, and I celebrate those.”
Votes are still being counted slowly in New Jersey, but we have what qualifies as a major update out of Hudson County, where 1,865 additional votes have been counted. We’re told these were mail votes, and they indeed broke heavily for Murphy, 1,429-496. Murphy now leads statewide 50.0 percent to 49.3 percent (a margin of 16,617 votes).