Supporters of Governor Phil Murphy reacted at the Murphy Election Night party at the Grand Arcade in Asbury Park on Tuesday night. NJ Advance Media of NJ.com

Update: Murphy won the New Jersey governor's game and defeated Catarelli by a narrow margin during his second term

No, you are not the only one who woke up Wednesday wondering what happened to the New Jersey election.

For a few hours, the governor’s race was too close. Democratic governor Phil Murphy and Republican challenger Jack Chatarelli separated by a narrow margin, even though all those polls predicted Murphy’s victory. Nearly 24 hours after the poll was over, the Associated Press finally announced on Wednesday that Murphy won by less than 1 percentage point.

Republicans are also preparing to replace several seats in the Democratic-controlled state legislature. What is shocking is that they are about to use candidates with no political experience to oust the state Senate President Stephen Sweeney. Many of these races are still too close.

Although the Democratic Party has 1 million more registered voters in the state than the Republican Party, all of this happened.

This makes this Election Day—or more precisely, Election Day—in the same league as other crazy New Jersey elections of the past few years, including the 1981 election, when it took nearly a month to convene. The weak governor campaign and the 1992 Democratic massacre, when the anti-tax frenzy prompted Republicans to win seats in places like Trenton and Patterson.

"It is surprising this year that we have no clues at all," said Dan Cassino, executive director of the Fairley Dickinson poll and professor of government and political science at the school.

New Jersey Election 2021: Local and State Results

"I believe Republicans will tell you that they have always known," said Bendworkin, director of the Institute of Public Policy and Citizenship at Rowan University. "But people outside did not see it appearing at this level."

Carl Golden served as press secretary to the former governor. Tom Keane (won the 1981 game) and Christie Whitman said that this year’s election is certainly one of the most unstable in the state.

"I have memories of 1981," Golden said with a smile. "It ranks quite high. In 1981, it was unprecedented. Everyone was dumbfounded and didn't know what to do next....It seemed to be moving in the same direction."

So what happened in the past 24 hours? Issues:

1. Republicans are in droves. (And the calculation delay adds to the confusion.)

Throughout the night of the election, people were shocked because Ciattarelli had accumulated a lot of numbers and had a narrow lead over the governor. By Wednesday afternoon, as more votes from the Democratic stronghold poured in, Murphy took the lead.

Although Murphy won, his current advantage is much smaller than the 14 points he scored in 2017, and much smaller than the high-single-digit victory polls predicted by the bluer New Jersey governor.

Experts say this may be because the Republican Party's voter turnout rate was higher than expected. In the end, they said that the Democratic Party’s 2 to 1 voter registration advantage in the state seemed to help Murphy win the race.

"The voters in New Jersey seem to be no different from 24 hours ago," said Micah Rasmussen, director of the New Jersey Rebovich Institute for Politics at Ryder University and former senior aide to Democratic Governor James McGreevey. "This is a part of the voters who have appeared, and those who have appeared tend to seek to make changes. Where is the Democratic Party's voting action?"

Ciattarelli attracted a large number of voters in the Republican home camp Ocean and Monmouth County, and also defeated the three South Jersey counties that voted for Murphy in 2017: Atlantic, Cumberland, and Gloucester. An analysis of the total number of preliminary votes revealed that Murphy performed worse in 11 of the 21 counties in the state than it was four years ago.

Thousands of ballots-including provisional ballots and mailed ballots-have not been counted until Thursday, which means that the numbers will change. But many people come from areas that tend to favor Democrats, and Democrats are more likely to use mail voting. This may increase Murphy's profit margins and overall voter turnout in the election-although his victory may still be closer than the polls predicted.

At the same time, due to the continuous emergence of statistics on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, the delay in counting slowed the results and caused confusion. More people voted by mail, which makes it less likely that a contest will be called on election night. Unlike last year, election officials could not start counting mailed ballots before election day. In addition, the new electronic system implemented as part of the new law caused problems with voting machines.

2. National sentiment may have suppressed the Democratic Party. (But the Democratic Party is still responsible.)

The game began when Murphy portrayed Catarelli as a clone of former President Donald Trump, which some people believe is a winning weapon for New Jersey. It ended with the burden placed on the governor by current President Joe Biden.

After Biden won New Jersey by 16 percentage points last year, a poll conducted by Monmouth University last month found that the Democratic president’s approval rating was low in the state. Political observers say this may reduce the turnout of some Democrats and stimulate more support for the Republican Party.

"This is obviously a national sentiment," said Ashley Corning, director of the Eagleton Center for Public Opinion Poll at Rutgers University and an assistant research professor at the school.

In fact, the Republican wave seems to be national, and the Republican Party has made progress in places like Virginia, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Some people say that Murphy has not done enough to actively attract black and brown voters, which has led to his poor performance in urban areas.

"Rather than creating excitement in the more progressive parts of the electorate-young, black, brown, and immigrant voters-it is easier to focus on the white, middle-class voters who always vote," Patricia. Patricia Campos-Medina, a representative of the labor and immigration rights agency, said at the post-election forum at Rutgers University on Wednesday morning.

Campos-Medina added: "Lack of contact with people's real concerns on the ground." "The only message is'I'm not Donald Trump.' People don't want to hear this."

However, supporters emphasized Murphy's positive factors-he withstood national headwinds and became the first Democratic governor to win re-election in New Jersey in 44 years. Murphy also overturned the state's 30-year history of electing candidates for governor from rival parties that won the White House the previous year.

In addition, despite the massive turnover of seats, the Democratic Party will still control both houses of the legislature.

3. Republicans are full of energy. The polls may not have caught it.

If some Democrats are indifferent, then many Republicans—and possibly others—will be angry. New Jersey happened to hold the first general election during Biden's presidency.

Dworkin said: "If you are frustrated because you can't afford gasoline, and you can't afford a new car because both are too expensive now, this is the first time you have the opportunity to participate in a poll and express your frustration." If you are upset about your child’s education and mask requirements and learning losses, this is your chance to vote."

Experts also emphasized that public voting is not perfect. They say it is difficult to capture enthusiasm when polling voters, and because of the growing distrust in the Trump era, some Republicans may not want to talk to pollsters or express their support.

4. The school board election spurred Republican voters.

The Republican swell seems to have fallen into some negative contests between the legislature and local offices.

Some negative contests may have the opposite effect. School board elections stimulated higher voter turnout among Republicans—many of them opposed the school’s mask-wearing regulations and cultural issues, such as teaching critical racial theories in schools. What Republican voters often avoid is that parents should have more "choices" in their children's education.

Rasmussen said: "It may not even be enough to win a particular school board election, but the fact is that it expelled hundreds of voters who were more inclined to vote for Jack, which resulted in a lot of votes."

5. COVID has played an unexpected role. Taxation is the key.

Dworkin said that, overall, the COVID-19 pandemic is a key factor in the election-just not as some people expected. The Rowan professor said that although opinion polls showed that Murphy was well received by residents for responding to the crisis, “those who do not like his handling of the pandemic make sure they vote”.

Dworkin said: "I think those who are ready to attribute him to the polling agency are not ready to make sure they vote this way."

In the last set of polls, there was an interesting shift: the response to COVID was replaced by taxation, which became the top concern of voters. This suggests that Ciattarelli's series of ads hit Murphy's tax records and may have an impact.

"Jack has been focusing on the voters and middle class issues in New Jersey," said Janet Hoffman, a Republican strategist.

6. A referendum on Murphy's progressivism? Has it eliminated the more moderate Sweeney?

In recent years, New Jersey has indeed become bluer, and the Democratic Party has tightened its control over the legislature and state congressional delegations-partly because Christie and Trump are unpopular here, which has improved the Democratic Party’s voter registration advantage.

However, as time passed and Trump stepped down, many former Republicans—especially those in the suburbs—may have turned back to support the Republican Party.

Mike DuHaime, a Republican adviser who participated in Christie’s two governor’s victories, said the proximity of the game was also a rejection of Murphy’s efforts to push the state in a more progressive direction.

"Murphy's campaign can still withdraw him, but it should not be seen as an endorsement of his policies or campaign activities," Duheim said at the Rutgers University event.

Democrats countered that Murphy's victory was actually a bright spot in the country, especially when Republicans claimed to own the office of the governor of Virginia. They also stated that his progressivism will keep the Democratic Party’s voter turnout from lowering.

Ironically, the night's biggest shocker in New Jersey came at the expense of the one guy who for years lobbied Murphy to be more moderate: Sweeney, the state Senate president who appears en route to losing to a little-known Republican who has never held elected office.

In fact, several other Democratic lawmakers who should not lose may be asked that night, which will reduce the party’s majority in the Senate and Parliament next year. These legislators may be victims of the upper echelons (disgusting Murphy) and the lower echelons (school board elections).

Senate Republicans issued a joint statement on Wednesday stating that voters in New Jersey, Virginia and elsewhere "sent a clear message that they are tired of Democratic leaders thinking they understand their concerns better."

They added: “It should be clear that any task that the Democratic Party believes they must govern from the extreme left no longer exists.”

In his victory speech on Wednesday night, Murphy vowed to "listen to the voice of New Jersey."

"So tonight, I reiterate my commitment to you-whether you vote for me or not-to work hard every day of the next four years to continue to push us forward," he added. "Go forward with new optimism to ensure that all 9.3 million people who call this great state their home have more opportunities."

7. A year after saying "yes" to marijuana, voters said "no" to more bets.

We know this is not a definite bet. One year after voters approved the legalization of marijuana in New Jersey, even though Atlantic City, online gambling, and sports betting were already in the state, voters rejected a referendum that allowed betting on college sports in the state.

Voters in New Jersey don't seem to be keen on gambling. Remember: a few years ago, they also strongly opposed allowing casinos in northern New Jersey.

Contributors Matt Arco, Len Melisurgo and Ted Sherman of NJ Advance Media contributed to this report.

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Brent Johnson can be contacted at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01.

You can contact Susan K. Livio at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio.

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