Truck driver on verge of unseating longtime liberal in Dem stronghold — after spending ONLY $153 on race

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Houston Keene | Fox News


The president of the New Jersey Senate is in danger of a stunning upset loss to his Republican truck driver challenger.

Sen. Steve Sweeney, a longtime Garden State Democrat leader, is trailing Republican challenger Edward Durr by thousands of votes.

Durr spent only $153 on his general election campaign, according to campaign finance filings.

Durr, a truck driver by trade, is on the verge of a stunning upset over Sweeney, who is the longest-serving legislative leader in New Jersey history.

Should Durr win, the upset would upend Garden State Democratic Party leadership.

https://i.imgur.com/wnWbUwY.png

"I have lived here all my life. I have been a commercial truck driver for the last 25 years. I consider myself to be 'blue collar,'" Durr states on his campaign website.

Republicans are making gains in the Garden State as the race for the governor’s mansion remains neck and neck between incumbent Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy and Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli, a former assemblyman.
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The two gubernatorial campaigns were intense, with Murphy positioning himself as a progressive while Ciattarelli tried to paint Murphy as out of touch and criticizing Murphy's COVID-19 response.

Both campaigns expressed optimism at the end of their election night parties, but neither side claimed victory in the race.

"We’ve sent a message to the entire nation. This is what I love about this state: Every single time it's gone too far off track, the people of this state have pushed, pulled and prodded it right back to where it needs to be," Ciattarelli said.

"We’re all sorry that tonight cannot yet be the celebration we wanted it to be," Murphy said. "But when every vote is counted — and every vote will be counted — we hope to have a celebration."

The too-close-to-call race was widely seen as an easy win for the Democrats, but Tuesday’s gains in Virginia may provide a hint as to how New Jersey goes.

[Hugh_Janus]

I liked the interview this guy gave to a news channel, it was class. Hopefully he doesn't fuck this up :lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I liked the interview this guy gave to a news channel, it was class. Hopefully he doesn't fuck this up :lol:

He did indeed win :lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By MATT FRIEDMAN - Politico


https://i.imgur.com/eD8HbuJl.jpg

Meet Edward Durr, giant slayer.

Durr, a truck driver for the furniture store Raymour & Flanigan, was declared the victor Thursday in a race against one of the most powerful people in New Jersey: State Senate President Steve Sweeney, a top officer in the international Ironworkers union whose influence rivals that of governors.

In a week filled with surprises beyond the razor-thin New Jersey governor’s race, the election in South Jersey’s 3rd Legislative District was the biggest shocker of all — and one with massive implications for the future of New Jersey politics. Sweeney, who’s led the state’s upper legislative chamber for 12 years, was talked up in Democratic circles as a likely 2025 candidate for governor. He had amassed significant power in Trenton, shrewdly cutting deals with former Republican Gov. Chris Christie and frequently standing in the way of Gov. Phil Murphy’s agenda.

Even Durr harbored doubts about his chances and wasn’t ready to declare victory in a Wednesday interview, telling POLITICO he was “walking on eggshells” until the results became official. State Republicans quickly jumped on victory — despite deploying no resources in the race.

“I kept telling myself and telling people I was going to do it, but in the back of my mind I was like, ‘You know, how am I going to beat the Senate president?” said Durr, who ran unsuccessfully for state Assembly in 2019 and has never held elected office.

But Durr said that, as he sat in his living room with his family Tuesday night as results rolled in, it dawned on him that there was a decent chance he’d soon be a member of the state Senate — and the man who took down Sweeney.

“My daughter was sitting next to me. She laughed at me and said ‘Dad, you’ve got tears running down my face,” Durr said Wednesday morning.

Durr, a 58-year-old father of three and grandfather of six who grew up in South Jersey, estimates he spent less than $10,000 on the race. By contrast, the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, spent about $5.4 million on a 2017 effort to unseat Sweeney, yet he still won by 18 points.

This was a far different election, with Republican districts and those with large blue-collar populations turning out in droves for Republicans.

It wasn’t just Sweeney. Durr’s Assembly running mates, Bethanne McCarthy Patrick and Beth Sawyer, appeared on track to defeat incumbents John Burzichelli and Adam Taliaferro (both D-Gloucester). Democrats will see their majorities shrink in both chambers of the state Legislature. And Murphy, despite claiming victory, appears to have significantly underperformed his own campaign’s expectations.

Durr said Murphy’s coronavirus executive orders, vaccine and school mask mandates, unemployment benefits snafus and a general distrust of South Jersey’s Democratic machine all contributed to his strong performance.

Sweeney, Durr said, “never challenged” Murphy during the pandemic.

“You have the debacle of unemployment. The masking of the kids in school. You have Senator Sweeney trying to take away peoples’ medical freedom rights,” Durr said. “I think the perfect storm was that he stepped into a pile of you-know-what and couldn’t get out of it because he didn’t know which way to turn. I just tapped into the right focus.”

Durr, who considers himself a “constitutional conservative,” said he also sensed a backlash to the influence wielded by South Jersey Democrats, whose cohesion under power broker George Norcross had made them virtually unbeatable — until now.

“Just the constant nepotism, corruption, ‘if you take care of me, I’ll take care of you deals,’” Durr said. “You don’t have evidence, you can’t get anyone arrested or prove anything, but there’s always ‘when there’s smoke there’s fire’ kind of statements.”

Durr’s grassroots win and regular guy appeal brought him to the attention of national conservative figures, who celebrated him on social media. “Hahaha no way,” tweeted Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw.

But New Jersey’s progressive activists were also celebrating after years of clashes with Sweeney and his patron, Norcross, whose deal-making skills kept the Senate president in power so long. Norcross frequently teamed up with Christie, most notably on paring back public worker benefits.

“He has tried to torpedo almost every important piece of legislation going back over 10 years,” said Sue Altman, executive director of the New Jersey Working Families Alliance. “The regime in South Jersey has been a complete conservation, trickle-down economics, bad-on-most-issues regime.”

Durr’s holds some deeply conservative positions. He’s advocated for cutting income, corporate and other state taxes in order for “businesses to grow,” and for reducing property taxes. He has also said that “abortion is wrong and should be stopped,” pushing for legislation that would outlaw the procedure if a fetal heartbeat is detected.

Durr said he is an ardent supporter of the Second Amendment, declaring in a recent YouTube interview that difficulties getting a concealed carry permit motivated him to seek office. New Jersey has some of the most aggressive gun control laws in the nation.

“What motivated me more than anything” to get into politics was not being able to get a concealed carry gun permit,” Durr said in the interview. “I still don’t consider myself a politician.”

[Hugh_Janus]

I know, The interview I saw was conducted after he won :lol:

[Pony]

:dance:

[Muddy]

He did indeed win :lol:

The power of the vote, Baby.. Can destroy or give rise to implementing thoughts..

[deebakes]

:wank:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Emma Colton | Fox News


https://i.imgur.com/q4QbSFI.png

Democratic New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney says thousands of "recently found" ballots supports his refusal to concede to a Republican challenger who ran a low-budget campaign.

"The results from Tuesday’s election continue to come in, for instance there were 12,000 ballots recently found in one county," Sweeney said in an email to the Philadelphia Inquirer on Thursday. "While I am currently trailing in the race, we want to make sure every vote is counted. Our voters deserve that, and we will wait for the final results."

Sweeney’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment on the matter, specifically on identifying which South Jersey county recently found the ballots.

Sweeney has been in the state Senate seat in South Jersey’s 3rd district since 2002.

The Associated Press called the race for Republican truck driver and political newcomer, Edward Durr, Thursday morning, with 100% of precincts reporting at 32,742 votes for Durr to 30,444 for Sweeney.

By Sunday morning, Sweeney has not conceded. Democratic State Sen. Nicholas Scutari is poised to succeed Sweeney as Senate president, NJ.com reported Friday.

Durr, a Raymour & Flanigan furniture truck driver, ran a campaign based on his conservative and blue collar values. He ran a low-budget campaign, shooting a campaign video on a smartphone and rarely hitting the trail to meet with voters, CBS New York reported.

"It didn’t happen because of me. I’m nobody. I’m just a simple guy," Durr said last week of the projected win. "It was a repudiation of the policies that have been forced down our throat, people told they can’t go to school, can’t go shopping. You cannot continue to tell people they can’t do things when we live in the freest country in the world."

"I want this job. I don’t want all the fame, but I want this job," Durr said. "I want to be the voice. I want to be somebody who can speak for the people. Because, one, I got a big mouth, so I like to make myself heard."

He made headlines last week for spending only $153 on campaigning, which he pushed back on as only showing data from May or June.

"You guys go in on the New Jersey Elect, obviously, and you find $153 filed. Well, that was back in May, June. That shows how behind New Jersey government is on keeping things updated," Durr said.

New Jersey’s gubernatorial election last week also saw a surprisingly tight race between Democratic incumbent Phil Murphy and Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli. Murphy has declared victory, but Ciattarelli has also refused to concede.

"I don't want people falling victim to wild conspiracy theories or online rumors," Ciattarelli said in a video last week. "While consideration is paid to any and all credible reports, please don't believe everything you see or read online."

Though the race between Murphy and Ciattarelli was surprisingly tight, strategists and politicians say no other New Jersey race was as surprising as the Durr-Sweeney race.

"No one on God’s earth could have predicted that," Democratic state Sen. Richard Codey said, according to NJ.com.

"Anyone who said they saw this coming is lying. Even Sweeney’s opponent didn’t see this coming," Democratic strategist Joshua Henne said of the race.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Democratic New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney says thousands of "recently found" ballots supports his refusal to concede to a Republican challenger who ran a low-budget campaign.

:shockface:

[Griffin]

Kinda like the 40,000 votes dumped for their governor in the middle of the night.

[Muddy]

Where did they find them?

[Griffin]

Does it matter? All they have to do is say that they have them, proof is not needed.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Where did they find them?

The trunk of his car.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Here we go

[Hugh_Janus]

I tought he'd be efucked already since they found a bunch of offensive old tweets he posted

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Tim Pearce - The Daily Wire


https://i.imgur.com/brALVoIl.jpg

New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney conceded his race on Wednesday, acknowledging GOP challenger Edward Durr as one of New Jersey’s newest state senators.

Sweeney’s loss is a major upset for New Jersey Democrats and came amid a groundswell of outrage from parents and others over the inclusion of Critical Race Theory and other progressive ideas and policies in public schools. The swell in GOP support nearly cost the election for Democratic Governor Phil Murphy as well.

“It was a red wave,” Sweeney said at a Wednesday press conference when asked how Durr, a truck driver and political newcomer, beat the second most powerful politician in the state, according to the Associated Press.

“The results of Tuesday’s elections are in. All votes have been fairly counted and I, of course, accept the results. I want to congratulate Mr. Durr and wish him the best of luck,” Sweeney said while delivering prepared remarks. “The people of the third legislative district are the best of New Jersey. It has been an honor and privilege to represent them in the state Senate and to serve as the president of the state Senate.”

“What voters said in this election, New Jersey is a state filled with hard-working people who want to be able to provide for their families. As leaders, we need to speak directly to the concerns of all voters. I plan to keep speaking to those concerns. I plan to remain fully involved in public affairs in New Jersey,” he added.

Durr spent relatively little on his campaign, just $2,300, according to an election document cited by the Associated Press. Sweeney spent roughly $305,000 in his loss to the Republican trucker.

At a press conference, Durr said that he’d had little contact with Sweeney, but had spoken to the Democratic leader on the phone since his concession. As New Jersey’s The Record reported:


Durr, at a news conference in Washington Township, Gloucester County, later Wednesday afternoon, said he and Sweeney had spoken on the phone but didn’t share the details of that conversation.

The senator-elect was complimentary toward the outgoing Senate president, saying Sweeney had earned the right to take his time in conceding. Their political differences, Durr said, do not extend to personal differences.

He said voters clearly responded to him and his positions, but he also saw it as a commentary on how South Jersey feels about the state of the state.

Durr’s win came off a swell of GOP support in New Jersey and Virginia. While the GOP picked up seats in New Jersey’s legislature, Republicans routed Democrats in Virginia, winning all three statewide elections and flipping the state House of Delegates. As The Daily Wire reported:


The Republican Party dominated the blue state of Virginia, where Democrat President Joe Biden won by 10 points just last year, as backlash builds to Biden’s numerous crises and far-left Democrat policies.

The biggest news of the night was that Republican gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who previously served as the state’s governor, with numerous publications calling the race during the early morning hours on Wednesday. Youngkin focused heavily on education and problems with local school boards during his campaign.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

:dance:

Do CA next

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I'm honestly surprised that he conceded since he claimed to have "found" all those votes.

[PorkChopSandwiches]

Hopefully we are seeing change is all I can say

[DemonGeminiX]

I'm honestly surprised that he conceded since he claimed to have "found" all those votes.

Everybody's watching him real closely, so he couldn't cheat. He had to concede.