New Jersey gov says ‘it’s time to look in the mirror’ after Dems lost key counties

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said it’s time to reflect after Democrats lost key counties in the blue-leaning state following Vice President Harris’s defeat in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. 

Murphy said Wednesday that “it’s time to look in the mirror and make sure [we] either change our substance, if it needs to be changed, or change the way we communicate what we stand for.”

The Democratic governor said that New Jersey is not a swing state. He stated that the White House race was about the economy, “kitchen table issues,” immigration and “it’s probably crime and public safety.”

Harris won New Jersey by around 5 points, underperforming compared to President Biden, who won the Garden State by 16 points in 2020. New Jersey residents saw a number of counties flip in President-elect Trump’s direction, including Passaic County, which has a large Arab American population. 

Trump made some gains in other Democratic strongholds, like New York, Massachusetts and Maryland, while also securing, so far, six out of the seven battleground states, per Decision Desk HQ’s projection. Arizona has yet to be called. 

Trump, who lost the popular vote in both 2016 and 2020, is currently on pace to win it this election cycle. 

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) criticized the Democratic Party on Wednesday, arguing the party has ignored the working class and said it was the biggest reason Democrats lost both the Oval Office and the Senate. 

“It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” Sanders said in a statement. 

“While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right,” he added.