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New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, old and new
Photo: Eduardo Munoz Avarez / AP
The Democratic governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, has won the gubernatorial election in the US state and can take up a second term.
He narrowly defeated his Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli, as reported by US news agencies.
Murphy, 64, is the first Democratic governor in New Jersey to be re-elected in four decades.
In the state in the northeastern United States, there was recently a left-wing spin, including new taxes for millionaires, stricter gun restrictions, a higher minimum wage and sick pay.
Murphy has also defended his crackdown on the coronavirus pandemic, including masking requirements in schools.
This had caused displeasure among parts of the electorate.
Ciattarelli, a former member of the state parliament, had focused much of his campaign on criticizing the high tax.
He also accused Murphy, a wealthy former Goldman Sachs executive, of losing touch with the grassroots.
New Jersey has steadily leaned toward Democrats over the past few years.
They won ten of the twelve seats in the US House of Representatives in 2020, and US President Joe Biden won New Jersey by more than 15 percentage points last year, ahead of ex-President Donald Trump.
Still, Ciattarelli's unexpectedly strong performance in New Jersey and Tuesday's Republican victory in the Virginia gubernatorial election are likely to cause unrest in Biden's party - especially with a view to next year's congressional elections.
The Republicans could then win back the majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate, thereby decisively weakening Biden.
President appeals to his own party
After the defeat in Virginia, Biden had called on his Democrats to get his billion dollar investment packages through Congress.
"People want us to move things," said Biden on Wednesday in the White House.
"That's why I'm pushing the Democratic Party very hard to go ahead and pass my Infrastructure Act and my Build-Back-Better Act."
In particular, the influential Senator Joe Manchin is slowing down the social and climate protection package and has already forced Biden to cut it by half.
Left-wing Democrats, on the other hand, do not want to pass the infrastructure package until there are reliable assurances that the social and climate package will be passed.
jso / jok / Reuters / AFP