Slow returns, tight race between Phil Murphy, Jack Ciattarelli for New Jersey governor - ABC7 New York

NEW JERSEY -- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy trailed at midnight against Republican Jack Ciattarelli in a very tight race. Murphy was trying to become the first Democrat reelected as the state's governor in 44 years.

One key county, Bergen, was reporting 71% of their vote but it appears there has been no mail-in ballot reporting. Ciattarelli was maintaining his lead with 52.2% to Murphy's 47.3%. In 2017, Murphy won this county with 56% of the vote. The lack of mail-in vote reporting would explain the massive Republican leads that that Bergen is showing right now.

LIVE RESULTS:Before polls opened Tuesday, already some 700,000 votes - about a third of the total in 2017 - had been cast by mail-in ballots or in early in-person voting.

Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey Sheila Oliver addressed supporters late on Tuesday night at the campaign headquarters in Asbury Park.

"First of all, I want to thank you for hanging in here, it's been a very long night. And we know that you are still here, strongly, because you believe in our cause and in the future of our beloved state of New Jersey," Oliver said. "Now, our adversaries may be jumping up and down with glee. But let me tell you something: I know Essex, my home county. I know how we roll. And we know that the votes in that Democratic stronghold have yet to be counted in total. Bergen County, the home of our beloved Senator Loretta Weinberg-Bergen is still counting. Union, still counting. Middlesex, still counting."

Governor Murphy had been leading in the polls, has a 1 million-voter registration advantage and had more cash in his campaign coffers than Ciattarelli in the final days of the race. But the Republican has far surpassed his predecessor four years ago in fundraising and has seen the gap in public polls move in his favor - if only by a few points.

Earlier on Tuesday at the Washington Township Senior Center, Joseph Buono wore his red Make America Great Again hat to vote. He voted for Ciattarelli for governor largely because of his promise to address property taxes in a state where the average bill is more than $9,000 - and because he doesn't want incumbent Murphy to remain in charge of the state's pandemic response.

"The fear is he's going to mandate everything if he does win," said Buono, a 31-year-old accountant. His wife, Nadia Buono, 37, who works in finance, said she doesn't want their two young children to be required to be vaccinated when they turn five.

Washington Township is the biggest town in Gloucester County, home to middle-class suburbs of Philadelphia. The county, generally more conservative than the state, has been a bellwether, voting for the winner in the last five gubernatorial elections.Outside the bustling senior center, home to voting for several precincts, Murphy voters said they approve of the governor's handling of the pandemic.

"I think he did an excellent job with COVID," said Julie Steinman, 60, a second-grade teacher in a nearby community. Steinman said she's an unaffiliated voter but usually supports Democrats running for governor, largely because they're friendlier to teachers and their unions.

While a Ciattarelli win would send a jolt of surprise through state and national politics, a win by Murphy would also break some historical trends.No Democrat has won reelection as governor in New Jersey since Brendan Byrne in 1977, and the party opposite the president's has won the New Jersey governorship going back to 1985.

Murphy has campaigned as a solid progressive, with a record to show for it. He signed bills into law that expanded voting access, provided for taxpayer-funded pre-K and community college, hiked the minimum wage to $15 an hour over time along with opening up the state to renewable energy like wind power.

Also on his watch and with his support, New Jersey legalized recreational marijuana, increased K-12 education funding and began fully financing the state's share of the public pension. He paid for some of the new state spending with higher taxes on incomes over $1 million.

In the closing days of the campaign, to hammer the point home, he appeared alongside U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders at Rutgers University at a rally. He cast the election as critical for holding on to progressive gains made during his first term.

Ciattarelli's campaign seized on comments Murphy made that New Jersey probably isn't for voters whose top issue is taxes, casting the governor as out of touch with a concern many prioritize.

He also sought support from those who disagreed with Murphy's handling of COVID-19. At a recent campaign rally in Hazlet when someone in the audience asked about mandates, Ciattarelli said there'd be none under his administration - an allusion to mask and vaccination mandates.

ALSO READ | Man accused of falsely claiming 7-year-old boy missing in Queens carjacking

He also implicitly criticized critical race theory in schools, saying that "we are not going to teach our children to feel guilty." Critical race theory is a method of thinking of America's history through the lens of racism that has become a political lightning rod of the Republican Party.

Polls showed Murphy got solid support for his handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, which hit New Jersey hard in early 2020 and resulted in the deaths of more than 25,000 people. About a third of those deaths occurred in nursing and veterans homes. But the state also excelled at getting people vaccinated and was quick to become one of the states with the highest percentages of eligible people to be fully vaccinated.

----------* Get Eyewitness News Delivered * More New Jersey news* Send us a news tip* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts * Follow us on YouTube Submit a News Tip