Senate President Steve Sweeney is officially giving up his bid for reelection.
“I accept the results,” Sweeney told reporters at the Statehouse on Wednesday. “It has been an honor and a privilege to represent them in the state Senate and to serve as president of the state Senate. I am proud what we have been able to accomplish.”
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Long the second most powerful *elected* figure in state politics, Sweeney, a union Democrat, repeatedly won reelection in a rural South Jersey district that voted twice for Donald Trump. The senator’s decision to rubber stamp most of Phil Murphy’s radical covid-era agenda appeared to have pushed his constituents beyond their point of comfort.
Sweeney presently trails Republican challenger (and now Senator-elect) Edward Durr by over 2,200 votes with most of the regular vote tabulated and emergency/provisional ballots remaining to be counted.
If you missed it? Click here to check out our Tuesday night long-form discussion with Durr, Trenton’s most famous incoming legislator.
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