Gov. Murphy Urges Patience In Van Drew-Kennedy Race

SOUTH JERSEY — Tens of thousands of ballots remain uncounted that will affect the 2nd District Congressional race between Jeff Van Drew and Amy Kennedy. In the meantime, Gov. Phil Murphy urged patience in the election.

"Just like (battleground states), New Jersey is going to count every single ballot, and that’s what we should be doing all around the country," Murphy said Wednesday in a news conference.

Congressman Van Drew, a Republican, holds the lead with 146,196 votes to Amy Kennedy's 136,022 as of Thursday afternoon, according to the Associated Press. The AP has reported results from 381 of the district's 523 precincts.

Van Drew declared victory on Election Night, but Kennedy hasn't conceded and the AP hasn't declared a winner. Ron Filan, Van Drew's campaign manager, told Patch on Thursday they have "no doubt" the congressman's advantage will hold.

"The Democrats came out to a big lead in terms of the earliest vote-by-mail returns," Filan said. "Over the course of the first 10 days to two weeks (of votes returning), that began to correct itself. And as Election Day got closer, the proportions were more in line with what you would expect to see."

Kennedy's comeback hopes most likely hinge on remaining ballots in Atlantic and Cumberland Counties, where she leads voting as of Thursday afternoon.

Atlantic County still has about 20,000 mail-in ballots to process, the Board of Elections told Patch on Thursday morning. The Cumberland County Board of Elections didn't return comment as of this publication. But the county has as many as 50,000 uncounted ballots on hand, according to the New Jersey Globe.

Officials also must finish counting votes in 28 Cape May County precincts, 12 in Salem County, 10 in Ocean County, eight in Gloucester County, three in Camden County and one in Burlington County.

New Jersey election officials can begin counting provisional ballots next Wednesday and must certify results by Nov. 20.

"Every vote needs to be counted and every voice needs to be heard," Kennedy said.

Murphy endorsed Kennedy during the Democratic primary and introduced her last July when she declared victory. The governor said he didn't know whether their links negatively impacted Kennedy in the general election — the 2nd District tends to lean Republican.

"I know it’s a tight race, but I’ve got no insights as to whether or not I played a role or didn’t play a role," Murphy said.