The New Jersey governor’s race has emerged as an unexpected nail-biter, as roughly 15,000 votes separated the incumbent Gov. Phil Murphy (D) from his Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli as of Wednesday afternoon. Murphy went into Election Day with a solid advantage in polls, leading his Republican challenger by an average of 7.8 points, per RealClearPolitics. However, after the polls closed and the results flooded in Tuesday night, all eyes turned to the Garden State as Ciattarelli took the lead, outperforming expectations.