Murphy Vs. Ciattarelli: How Lakewood Voted

LAKEWOOD, NJ — It has been the closest gubernatorial race in decades. With the race declared for Phil Murphy over Jack Ciattarelli with 98 percent of the votes counted, here's a look at how Lakewood and Ocean County voted.

The voter turnout in Ocean County was 46.95 percent, according to tallies published by the Ocean County Board of Elections as of 11 a.m. Thursday. Of 455,804 registered voters in the county, there are 170,257 registered Republicans, 101,334 registered Democrats, and 178,182 unaffiliated voters.

In Lakewood, 34.1 percent of the township's 57,491 registered voters cast ballots in the race between Ciattarelli and Murphy.

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In Ocean County, the Board of Elections has counted most of the ballots cast. What remain are vote-by-mail ballots that were postmarked Nov. 2 or earlier and sent via the U.S. Postal Service. Ocean County sent out about 54,000 vote-by-mail ballots; as of Thursday, 38,213 had been returned and counted, just under 71 percent.

The elections board must receive and count vote-by-mail ballots by the close of business on Monday, Nov. 8. On Nov. 9, the Board of Elections will start processing the 5,500 provisional ballots that were cast by voters, Ocean County Clerk Scott A. Colabella said.

The official election results will be determined at the Board of Canvassers meeting Nov. 15 and the County Clerk must certify official election results to the Secretary of State by Nov. 20.

There were 214,006 ballots cast in Ocean County for the 2021 election. Of those, 211,896 ballots were cast in the gubernatorial race, meaning 2,000 voters sat that race out. Of the 211,896, Ciattarelli received 143,148 votes and Murphy received 67,176.

By comparison, Chris Christie received 124,238 votes in Ocean County when he was elected governor in 2009, an election where 52 percent of the county's 371,066 registered voters went to the polls. That voter turnout, in a county known as a reliably Republican stronghold, was seen as an important part of Christie's victory in an election where voter turnout overall was low.

In 2020, when the election was conducted by mail-in voting, 78 percent of Ocean County voters cast ballots.

As of 11 a.m. Thursday, Murphy had a margin of just under 40,000 votes, 1,246,865 to 1,206,341, according to the Associated Press.

Lakewood had one of the lowest levels of participation, at 34.09 percent. With 57,491 registered voters (out of a population of more than 135,000, according to the latest Census figures), 19,596 cast ballots for the two. There were 12,036 votes for Ciattarelli and 7,560 for Murphy. Murphy had received the backing of the Vaad, the group of religious and other leaders who provide guidance and leadership for Lakewood's Orthodox Jewish community.

In Toms River, of 71,123 registered voters in the township, just 44.75 percent cast ballots for Ciattarelli and Murphy, with 22,315 for Ciattarelli and 9,514 for Murphy, according to the unofficial vote tallies.

In neighboring Brick Township, 48.21 percent of the town's 58,071 registered voters cast ballots for the two, with 19,368 for Ciattarelli and 8,628 for Murphy.

Manchester was at 49.24 percent, with 12,253 ballots cast for Ciattarelli and 6,897 for Murphy. There are 38,892 registered voters in Manchester.

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