Truck driver Edward Durr (R) holds a 2,229-vote lead over New Jersey State Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford) in the race for the 3rd district State Senate seat — one of the most surprising results of Tuesday’s elections.
According to NJ.com, Durr had 32,497 votes to Sweeney’s 30,268 votes with all precincts reporting as of Wednesday evening — a margin of nearly 4%. He has not yet officially won yet, but Sweeney delayed Senate leadership elections.
Sweeney is one of the most powerful Democrats in the state, and the longest-serving state legislative leader in New Jersey history. Durr only spent $153 on his entire campaign, most of it apparently on paper fliers and on food from Dunkin Donuts.
Durr is the recipient of a sudden flood of attention, including admiration for his quirky, amateur-quality campaign video.
Durr describes himself on his Facebook page — he does not have a campaign website — as a blue-collar conservative. He has run for public office and says he was motivated by being denied a concealed carry firearms permit for no particular reason.
The race for governor between incumbent Democrat Phil Murphy and Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli remains too close to call. Few gave the Republican any chance of winning before he turned in a surprisingly strong result on Tuesday.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.