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NJ Voters Weighing in on COVID Mandates in Their Vote for Governor

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Two significant state elections are taking place this year that could give an indication of how Americans are leaning since President Biden took over the White House and Democrats gained razor-thin control in both houses of Congress.

In New Jersey, the current governor, Democrat Phil Murphy, is leading his Republican rival Jack Ciattarelli in the latest polling. 

The most recent numbers from the Stockton University survey show him up 50% to 41% among voters in the left-leaning state.  
 
In the final debate of the campaign, issues like COVID-19 mandates and taxes were the big talking points. 

Ciattarelli says Murphy has taken a heavy-handed approach to COVID which has hurt the state and the rights of its citizens, according to NJ Spotlight News. Ciattarelli contends that people should have the right to make up their own minds on personal health decisions like COVID vaccines. "The choice is theirs," he said.

Murphy said Ciattarelli's views on vaccine decisions would fit better for a candidate in Texas or Florida than New Jersey. "The tragedy today is there is a playbook. We know vaccines work. We know masking works," Murphy said. "For folks to ignore that (and) disregard that playbook is putting lives needlessly at risk."

During an interview with CBN News' Faith Nation, CBN News Political Analyst David Brody was asked about Ciattarelli's chances of winning the election. 

"Let's remember. New Jersey is a Democratic state. They don't call it New Jersey over there. They call it "Blue Jersey" and it's a solid Blue Jersey," Brody replied. "So this is a very, very hard race for Ciattarelli to win. So it's going to be an uphill climb. But is he making progress? Yes. But it might be too little, too late."

Political observers will be watching both the New Jersey race and Virginia's race for governor to see if they reveal any big trends before the 2022 congressional midterm elections.

Right now, the Virginia race is seen as a toss-up. Both the NJ and VA elections are taking place on Nov. 2. 

ABOVE: CBN News Political Analyst David Brody gave his insight about the New Jersey election with CBN News' Faith Nation. Click to watch the entire interview.  Faith Nation is seen weeknights on the CBN News Channel.  

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Benjamin
Gill

Benjamin Gill oversees all web content as the Multimedia Manager for CBNNews.com. He has been on staff with CBN News as an internet and broadcast producer since 2000. You can follow him on Twitter @BenGillCBN. Here are some of his commentaries and articles: Pursuing Truth in a World of Fake News: Reflections of a Christian Journalist After 20 Years with CBN News The Breaking Point: Pandemic Pain, Persistent Prayer, and God's Bigger Picture Plagues, the End Times, and Trusting in God's Protection: 'You Will Hear Us and Rescue Us' 12 Powerful Bible Verses to Build Your Faith and Fight Fear