N.J. Senate president refuses to concede election to blue collar worker

by mcardinal

Marion Bae, FISM News

 

The state of New Jersey, a Democratic stronghold, faced major challenges and defeats for their state legislature during the 2022 election cycle. In possibly the biggest upset of the 2022 off-year elections, national outlets have called the election of Democratic State Senator Steve Sweeney, saying he lost to Edward Durr, a life-long trucker who had never ran for office before. Nearly a week after the state elections, however, Sweeney has yet to concede the race to the Republican challenger.

Sweeney’s Twitter account, which he updates frequently, has been strangely silent since November 2nd. His last post came on election day, with a message encouraging his constituents to vote..

There is also no sign of a concession or mention of the race results on his official website. Sweeney said that he did not plan to concede, in an email to Politico on Thursday, saying, “The results from Tuesday’s election continue to come in, for instance there were 12,000 ballots recently found in one county. While I am currently trailing in the race, we want to make sure every vote is counted. Our voters deserve that, and we will wait for the final results.”

Sweeney’s loss will be one of many faced by Democrats around the country during this election season. The biggest win for Republicans came in the Virginia gubernatorial race, where Glenn Youngkin was elected over incumbent governor Terry McAullife. New Jersey’s own Democratic Governor Phil Murphy ran a close race for reelection against Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who also has yet to concede.

Notably, the Associated Press has already called both races for Durr and Murphy.

Though Sweeney himself hasn’t conceded, it seems as if Democrats in New Jersey have counted his loss and are mobilizing to fill the void in the role of New Jersey Senate President. The New Jersey Globe confirmed that Nicholas Scutari, current Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, is likely to become the new senate president, and has the support of Murphy. Scutari is another life-long politician, having been in public office since age 25 and serving on the state senate since 2003.

The New Jersey Globe also reported that there are some in the New Jersey Democratic Party who do not want to see Scutari elected as the senate president, because they are in favor of electing the state’s first senate president of color. 

Sweeney had served on the state senate since 2002 and filled the role of senate president since 2010. 

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