(Reuters) -Republican Jack Ciattarelli conceded defeat to Democrat Phil Murphy in the New Jersey governor’s race on Friday, 10 days after the end of an election campaign in which he narrowed a wide lead enjoyed by the incumbent.
The 59-year-old former state lawmaker had campaigned against high taxes and sought to label Murphy, a wealthy former Goldman Sachs executive, as out of touch.
New Jersey has trended Democratic in recent years. President Joe Biden carried the state over former President Donald Trump last year by more than 15 percentage points.
Murphy, 64, is the first Democratic governor in four decades to win re-election in New Jersey, even though registered Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by more than 1 million in the densely populated state.
(Reporting by Katharine Jackson)
