New Jersey GOP Gov. Candidate Isn’t Conceding Yet, Signals a Possible Recount

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New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli’s campaign denied allegations of voter fraud, but signaled it may launch a “full recount” based on the margin of Gov. Phil Murphy‘s (D) win.

According to the New York Times, Murphy received 50.9% of the vote, compared to Ciattarelli’s 48.3%. About 65,000 votes separate them. The Associated Press and several other outlets declared Murphy the winner last week.

Ciattarelli’s campaign made it clear that they were not alleging any voter fraud, but believe that the provisional vote count could “reduce the margin for Governor Murphy enough to warrant a full recount.”

In a statement, Ciattarelli legal counsel Mark Sheridan blamed Murphy’s new in-person early voting law for causing an “excruciatingly slow vote counting process.”

“Let me be clear, no one on this team is alleging fraud or malfeasance, as we have not seen any credible evidence of that,” Sheridan said. “However, the new law Governor Murphy and state Democrats rushed to enact led to this disjointed and excruciatingly slow vote counting process. We still have vote-by-mail ballots outstanding and approximately 70,000 provisional ballots to be counted.”

Sheridan acknowledged that the campaign did not expect the provisional vote count to hand Ciattarelli a lead, but noted the “count may reduce the margin for Governor Murphy enough to warrant a full recount.”

Murphy’s campaign reiterated calls for Ciattarelli to concede on Monday, deeming it mathematically impossible for the Republican to win. Additionally, Murphy’s campaign estimates that there are about 13,000 fewer provisional ballots remaining than Ciattarelli’s campaign.

“The race is over,” Murphy campaign manager Mollie Binotto said. “Assemblyman Ciattarelli is mathematically eliminated, and he must accept the results and concede the race. His continuing failure to do so is an assault on the integrity of our elections.”