The “red wave” of Republican victories in New Jersey’s legislative elections that had been predicted for weeks by pollsters, politicians and pundits failed to materialize on Election Day. Instead, Democratic incumbents held on to hotly contested seats while managing to flip a few.
Not only did Democrats prevent Republicans from flipping either chamber of the state Legislature to GOP control, the Democrats even expanded their majority in the Assembly.
Democratic Party leaders like Gov. Phil Murphy hold the results up as evidence that the “culture way” issues many Republicans campaigned on are not what the average New Jersey resident cares about.
Murphy argues the election’s outcome is a validation of his party’s policy priorities. “It’s huge. I don’t know how else to say it,” an exuberant Murphy said Tuesday night. “It’s a huge validation of our collective agenda.”
