Just as Sweeney hasn’t conceded defeat, Durr won’t yet declare victory

Edward Durr, the Republican who likely upset Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford) last week, said in a press release today that he isn’t ready to declare victory, and wants to wait until every vote is counted.

“In any election we should wait for every legal vote to be counted before a concession is offered or victory is declared,” he said. “That’s exactly why I have not declared victory over Senate President Steve Sweeney and have not expected a call from him to concede.”

Durr used his own lack of victory declaration to attack Gov. Phil Murphy for comments the governor made yesterday saying that Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli was acting dangerously by not conceding.

“My differences with Senator Sweeney are political, not personal,” Durr said. “I’m going to wait until every legal vote is counted before I declare victory because that is what America is all about. I suggest Murphy stop being petty and do the same for Jack Ciattarelli.”

Durr’s allies in the national Republican Party have not been so hesitant to call the race in his favor, boasting that Durr had “officially ousted” Sweeney in a press release last week – and Durr’s own release from today calls him the “senator-elect.”

But that doesn’t necessarily invalidate Durr’s broadside against Murphy, who has struggled to provide a clear distinction between calling for Ciattarelli’s concession and respecting Sweeney’s decision not to concede.