Both Gov.-elect Phil Murphy and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker emphatically stated that Murphy’s election victory was a repudiation of President Donald Trump.
How much it can be tied to the national political climate is uncertain, but this much is clear: It marks an unceremonious ending to the tenure of Gov. Chris Christie, who took the state by storm in 2009 and was briefly considered a rising star nationally before falling to depths of unpopularity in the state that had never been seen.
Fairly or unfairly, the connection to Christie was something Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno could not overcome in her attempt to succeed him.
Guadagno, trailing by double digits throughout the campaign, never gain strength with voters. She lost the race by a margin of 56-42.
“It was a great race,” she told supporters in Aberdeen during a brief concession speech. “We left no stone unturned and we would not have done anything differently.
“We made the best case possible.”
And while the defeat potentially marks the end of public office for Guadagno, she told supporters she is not giving up on fighting for the issues.
“We were fighting for our families and we will continue that fight for lower taxes and a safer New Jersey,” Guadagno said. “This is not the end.
“We may have lost the battle, but we will win this war in the long run.”
