<p>New Jersey State Senate President Stephen Sweeney officially lost re-election on Thursday to newcomer Edward Durr, a Republican truck driver, who spent only a couple thousand dollars on his campaign.</p>
<p>Politico, which referred to Sweeney as &#8220;New Jersey’s most powerful lawmaker,&#8221; <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/04/ed-durr-defeats-steve-sweeney-519502">said</a> that Durr&#8217;s upset win dealt a &#8220;severe blow to Democrats&#8221; as Sweeney was &#8220;their most effective political machine.&#8221;</p>
<p>Durr defeated Sweeney after &#8220;spending $2,300, according to an Election Law Enforcement Commission document filed online on Thursday,&#8221; The Associated Press <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2021-11-04/gop-edward-durr-defeats-top-nj-lawmaker-sweeney-with-153">reported</a>. Politico noted that just four years ago, &#8220;the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, spent about $5.4 million on a 2017 effort to unseat Sweeney, yet he still won by 18 points.&#8221;</p>
<p>Montclair State University political science professor Brigid Harrison said that Durr&#8217;s upset victory was, in part, an indicator that even blue states are rejecting Democrat President Joe Biden and his far-left agenda. Republican and blue collar districts turned out heavily to vote for Republicans during Tuesday&#8217;s election.</p>
<p>“This was a protest vote against the Biden administration and Murphy,” Harrison said. “Steve was in many ways just how people voiced their dissatisfaction and anger with the larger political structure.”</p>
<p>Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg responded to the upset by saying in an interview, “It is stunning and shocking and I cannot figure it out.”</p>
<p>Politico added:</p>
<blockquote>
<p class=" story-text__paragraph" data-content-child-index="0-0"><em>It wasn’t just Sweeney. Durr’s Assembly running mates, Bethanne McCarthy Patrick and Beth Sawyer, appeared on track to defeat incumbents John Burzichelli and Adam Taliaferro (both D-Gloucester). Democrats will see their majorities shrink in both chambers of the state Legislature. And Murphy, despite claiming victory, appears to have significantly underperformed his own campaign’s expectations. &#8230;</em></p>
<p><em>That outcome could be indicative of a significant shift in New Jersey’s electoral landscape. Durr said Murphy’s coronavirus executive orders, vaccine and school mask mandates, unemployment benefits snafus and a general distrust of South Jersey’s<b> </b>Democratic machine all contributed to his strong performance.</em></p></blockquote>
<p>New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli came within just a couple of points of knocking off the state&#8217;s incumbent Democrat governor, Phil Murphy, in a state that Biden won by nearly 16 points just last year.</p>
<p>Durr, who previously ran for office a couple of years ago, said that he was motivated to run against Sweeney this year after he was denied a concealed carry permit.</p>
<p>&#8220;I was told flat-out by the local sheriff, &#8216;Don&#8217;t even bother.&#8217; And that kind of angered me,&#8221; <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/nj-senate-sessions-hold-truck-driver-who-was-denied-gun-permit-stuns-democrats-1645742">said</a> Durr. &#8220;I&#8217;ve never been arrested and I couldn&#8217;t get a concealed carry? &#8230; That really angered me, so I looked into what can you do to get into politics.&#8221;</p>
<p>Democrats also suffered catastrophic losses in Virginia on Tuesday night as the state&#8217;s governorship, attorney general, and lieutenant governorship all flipped from Democrat to Republican. Republicans also ended Democrats&#8217; control of the House of Delegates in the state, winning at a minimum enough seats for a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/virginia-house/2021/11/02/44bbab6c-36b4-11ec-91dc-551d44733e2d_story.html">tie</a>, with other reports <a href="https://wset.com/news/local/virginia-democrats-republicans-battling-over-house-control-11-03-2021">projecting</a> that Republicans had up to a 2-seat majority.</p>

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Republican Truck Driver Beats New Jersey’s ‘Most Powerful’ Democrat Lawmaker After Only Spending A Few Thousand Dollars

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Republican Truck Driver Beats New Jersey’s ‘Most Powerful’ Democrat Lawmaker After Only Spending A Few Thousand Dollars