Ciattarelli weighing recount demand in New Jersey governor race
But the Republican does not believe there was fraud
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}New Jersey Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli is not ready to concede, arguing that the election is still too close to call but making clear that are not making accusations of fraud.
"No one on this team is alleging fraud or malfeasance, as we have not seen any credible evidence of that," the campaign said in a statement Monday.
The campaign noted that while there is around a 66,405 vote gap separating Ciattarelli and Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, there are still about 70,000 provisional ballots left to be counted. Additionally, an unknown number of vote-by-mail ballots will continue to be received through Monday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jack Ciattarelli with his wife Melinda. (USA TODAY NETWORK via Reuters Connect)
REPUBLICAN JACK CIATTARELLI REFUSES TO CONCEDE NEW JERSEY GUBERNATORIAL RACE
"Waiting an additional day or two for all votes to be counted should not be controversial," Ciattarelli legal counsel Mark Sheridan said Monday.
The campaign has discussed the possibility of asking for a recount, though officials would not commit to taking that route until they can assess the situation after all ballots have been counted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}ASBURY PARK, NJ - NOVEMBER 02: New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy (Photo by Mark Makela/Getty Images)
"The odds of them all going in favor of Jack and changing the outcome of this election based on the current timeline is unlikely," Sheridan said of the current vote tally in a call with reporters Monday. "But that doesn't mean it doesn't bring it close enough to warrant a recount, which is really what we're sitting here looking to do at this point of time, is evaluate whether or not it makes sense to recount this vote. "
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The campaign said the threshold for asking for a recount would be "roughly one percent" but continued to stress that the refusal to concede so far was not based on any reports of fraud.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jack Ciattarelli, Republican candidate for governor of New Jersey. Photographer: Mark Kauzlarich/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Getty)
"We're not hearing any credible accounts of fraud or malfeasance or anything like that," Sheridan said. "I'm not looking to be Rudy Giuliani standing in front of a mulch pile. My goal is to make sure that we get an accurate count and then we make a reasonable decision based on the law and the facts to decide whether or not we're going to recount this."