That title goes to Edward Durr, slightly identified — and even little-r financed — Republican who seems to have unseat Stephen Sweeney, the state Senate majority chief and one of the highly effective Democrats within the Backyard State.
CNN has not but made a projection within the race, however a rely as of late Thursday morning confirmed Durr holding a 2,298-vote lead with 51.8% of the vote to Sweeney’s 48.1%. (Observe: There could also be a large variety of ballots left to rely in these counties, and if there are mail-in ballots, they may tighten the margin.)
Sweeney was thought-about a shoo-in for the South Jersey seat he has held since 2004. He’s the longest-tenured state Senate chief in New Jersey historical past and was extensively anticipated to run for governor in 2025 when present Gov. Phil Murphy (D) is time period restricted out of workplace. (Murphy eked out a second time period over Republican Jack Ciattarelli on Tuesday.)
Durr, alternatively, had solely a dropping race for state Meeting in 2019 underneath his belt. He spent 20 years as a industrial truck driver and solely determined to run towards Sweeney when he was denied a hid carry allow for a gun.
“Effectively, I am a numbers man and I’ve regarded on the numbers over time,”
Durr said in August. “We have now a district that’s 150,000 voters. Senator Sweeney has by no means damaged 32,000 votes … and so I felt if he cannot even get half the district, meaning there’s numbers on the market to be taken, and also you simply must get individuals to come back out and vote. I imagine if they arrive out and vote, we might win.”
Durr raised greater than $10,000 for his marketing campaign however,
according to spending records detailed by WCAU, an NBC Philadelphia TV station, he spent solely $153 on his marketing campaign: $66.64 at Dunkin and $86.67 for flyers and enterprise playing cards. (That is a LOT of Dunkin.)
Given Sweeney’s highly effective publish and his, um, relative lack of assets, even Durr admitted to NJ.com that he did not count on to win.
“I joked with individuals and I stated, ‘I will shock the world, I will beat this man,'”
he said Wednesday. “I used to be saying it, however actually sort of joking. As a result of what likelihood did an individual like me actually stand towards this man? He is actually the second-most highly effective particular person within the state of New Jersey.”
So, how did Durr do it? Effectively, as evidenced by Murphy’s shut name, there was a transparent Republican wind blowing within the state (and within the nation). And it is potential that Sweeney bore some lingering scars from his 2017 race when the
New Jersey Education Association went all out to oust him — spending
totaled more than $20 million within the race.
And, it appears clear now that Sweeney underestimated Durr — vastly.
