Republican Ed Durr will defeat New Jersey’s Senate president, CNN projects

By Gregory Krieg, Mirna Alsharif and Paul P. Murphy, CNN

Ed Durr, a Republican who has never held elective office and is coming under fire for indicating support for QAnon and expressing Islamophobia in old tweets, will oust a powerful Democrat from New Jersey’s state Senate District 3.

CNN projected Friday that Durr, who spent two decades as a commercial truck driver and decided to run for the seat when he was denied a concealed carry permit for a gun, will defeat longtime state Senate President Steve Sweeney.

Sweeney, the longest-tenured state Senate leader in New Jersey history, had been considered the favorite to win the South Jersey seat he was first elected to in 2001.

His ouster at the hands of a Republican who, along with the two other GOP candidates on his slate, spent — as of 11 days before the election — fewer than $2,500, underscores the depth of the Election Day voter revolt against leading Democrats. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat who was expected to easily win a second term, squeaked by his GOP challenger, Jack Ciattarelli, by only about two percentage points.

Asked during a Fox News interview the night after the election what his priority was when he arrived at the state Capitol, Durr promised to be a “voice for the people,” but was short on specifics.

“I really don’t know. That’s the key factor. I don’t know what I don’t know, so I will learn what I need to know,” Durr said. “I’m going to guarantee you one thing: I will be the voice, and people will hear me, because if there’s one thing people will learn about me, I’ve got a big mouth.”

Controversial tweets

The Republican has already been asked to account for old tweets that were uncovered by news outlets, including CNN.

CNN obtained cached and archived copies of tweets from Durr in which he indicates support for QAnon and expresses Islamophobia.

In one tweet from 2019, Durr referred to the Prophet Muhammad as a “pedophile” and Islam as “a false religion” and “a cult of hate.”

In another tweet published in the summer of 2020, Durr wrote to another Twitter user using the hashtag “WWG1WGA,” a well-known QAnon phrase that means, “Where we go one, we go all.”

Durr also expressed xenophobic ideas, tweeting in 2018 that Murphy should “stop pushing #sanctuary state & inviting #illegals to our state.” He added the hashtags “#BuildTheWall,” “#NoIllegals” and “#MAGA.” CNN also unearthed a tweet from Durr at the state’s first lady, Tammy Murphy, calling Covid-19 the “China virus” and blaming the “influx of #IllegalAliens” for “the return of diseases.”

In response to an online article about police being directed to use correct pronouns for transgender people, he tweeted, “Not enough that police must deal with all the issues with criminals, now they must watch what pronouns they used. Intelligence has no place in Trenton!”

Durr also denied climate change in a tweet, saying, “1st there is no climate crisis, climate change its call seasons.” He called Planned Parenthood “murderers” in the same tweet.

Durr’s Twitter account has since been deleted. CNN has contacted Durr and Twitter for comment.

In a statement to CNN affiliate KYW, the Republican apologized for his previous Islamophobic comments.

“I’m a passionate guy and I sometimes say things in the heat of the moment. If I said things in the past that hurt anybody’s feelings, I sincerely apologize. I support everybody’s right to worship in any manner they choose and to worship the God of their choice. I support all people and I support everybody’s rights. That’s what I am here to do, work for the people and support their rights.”

It is not clear if he was asked about the other offensive posts.

Durr, who CNN has not been able to reach directly, agreed to meet with Muslim community leaders from his district and representatives from the Council on American-Islamic Relations next week, Selaedin Maksut, executive director of the organization’s New Jersey chapter, told CNN on Friday.

Durr’s statement apologizing for his Islamophobic tweets prompted the council to urge him to “meet with Muslim leaders and fully repudiate his comments and address the concerns of the Muslim community.”

“This ‘apology’ fails to address the issues with Mr. Durr’s bigoted, anti-Muslim statements. We urge him to meet with Muslim leaders and fully repudiate his comments and address the concerns of the Muslim community,” the national organization tweeted.

Maksut on Saturday told CNN’s Evan McMorris-Santoro that his organization hopes they can change his perspective on the Muslim faith.

“Through conversation and sincere dialogue, I think that people can change but it requires effort, it requires sincerity. And ultimately, there is no benefit in cornering him,” Maksut said. “So, with a conversation, maybe two or three, and through experience and coming to see the community, coming to learn from his own constituents who are Muslim, we do think we can change his perspective on the faith and the people who follow the religion of Islam. It is really the only option we have. It is really our obligation as Muslims to do it.”

No concession from Sweeney

Durr in his campaign video cast Sweeney as a rubber stamp for Murphy, saying he “sat by and watched” as Murphy mishandled the Covid-19 pandemic. Durr also criticized the state’s tax policies, a staple of Ciattarelli’s campaign message.

“The Senate President has spent 20 years in Trenton,” Durr says in the clip, which begins with him exiting the cab of a truck and ends with him riding off on a motorcycle. “Higher taxes, increasing debt and rising cost of living — we deserve better. New Jersey, it’s time for a change. So together, let’s end single-party rule.”

Sweeney, who has beaten back better-organized, heavily funded challengers in the past, has not yet conceded the race.

Despite the Republican’s surprise victory, New Jersey’s legislature will remain under Democratic control. But the backlash in New Jersey and Virginia, where Democrats lost the governor’s mansion and full control of the House of Delegates, has sent shockwaves across the country.

Democrats already expecting a challenging 2022 midterm election season are now scrambling to draw up a message to protect the party’s fragile congressional majorities.

This story has been updated with additional reporting Friday.

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CNN’s Jennifier Agiesta and Chris Cillizza contributed to this report.