New Jersey governor’s race too close to call

New Jersey’s gubernatorial contest turned out to be an unexpected nail-biter as the race remained too close to call on Wednesday morning.

Tallies shortly before 1 a.m. ET showed Gov. Phil Murphy (D) and former state lawmaker Jack Ciattarelli (R) separated by under 1 point.

Earlier tallies had shown Ciattarelli with a single-digit lead, but as ballots were tabulated from Democratic-leaning areas, that margin was winnowed down.

Still, the narrow race caused handwringing among Democrats, particularly after Republican Glenn Youngkin beat former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe in the Old Dominion’s gubernatorial contest in a race that both parties had viewed as a bellwether.

Early polls had shown Murphy with a yawning lead, though Ciattarelli had made up ground as the campaign wore on. But surveys in the run-up to the Tuesday contest still showed Murphy up anywhere from 6 to 11 points.