Not so fast? Jack Ciattarelli rips media calls projecting Phil Murphy victory in the NJ gubernatorial election

Our partner, Decision Desk, along with other media outlets has called the NJ gubernatorial election for incumbent Phil Murphy over GOP challenger Jack Ciattarelli:

Decision Desk HQ projects Democrat Phil Murphy, @PhilMurphyNJ, as the winner of the New Jersey Gubernatorial Election.

Full Results:https://t.co/HuO41nXscQ
Race Called At: 9:01 PM (Eastern) pic.twitter.com/GwGpNJwcPj

— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 4, 2021

But not so fast?

The campaign is ripping these projections, saying they’re “irresponsible” as there are still votes to count:

NJ TOO CLOSE TO CALL: Ciattarelli campaign reacts to AP decision: 'Irresponsible' to call vote this early for Murphy https://t.co/6Es2O0Zso4 #FoxNews

— Andrea Jackson FOX 35 📺🇺🇸 (@AJacksonTV) November 4, 2021

Stami Williams, comms director for Ciattarelli, tweeted “With the candidates separated by a fraction of a percent out of 2.4 million ballots cast, it’s irresponsible of the media to make this call when the New Jersey Secretary of State doesn’t even know how many ballots are left to be counted”:

With the candidates separated by a fraction of a percent out of 2.4 million ballots cast, it’s irresponsible of the media to make this call when the New Jersey Secretary of State doesn’t even know how many ballots are left to be counted. https://t.co/DnwIRASspC

— Stami Williams (@StamiLW) November 3, 2021

Keep counting, New Jersey:

Let's count the votes. pic.twitter.com/5wpTTCVfTw

— Stami Williams (@StamiLW) November 3, 2021

Settle in, because this could take a while:

New Jersey officials are warning a full accounting of the governor’s race could take more than a week, thanks to unopened mail-in ballots, technical snafus and untested voting changes https://t.co/pbzLUsRYTy

— Bloomberg Asia (@BloombergAsia) November 3, 2021

***