Recently defeated New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney refuses to concede to the Republican truck driver that upset him at the polls, citing thousands of “recently found” ballots that have yet to be counted.  

“The results from Tuesday’s election continue to come in, for instance, there were 12,000 ballots recently found in one county,” Sweeney wrote in a statement last week. “While I am currently trailing in the race, we want to make sure every vote is counted. Our voters deserve that, and we will wait for the final results.”

Rookie GOP politician Edward Durr, a furniture truck driver who ran on a shoestring campaign reflective of his blue-collar values, stripped Sweeney of the Senate seat he has held in southern New Jersey’s 3rd district since 2002.

The election was called for Durr with 32,742 votes to Sweeney’s 30,444 on Thursday when 100% of the precincts reported in. It is unclear which county allegedly found 12,000 ballots.  

Durr’s shocking win made headlines when it was reported that he spent a mere $153 on the race and shot his campaign video on a smartphone, though he clarified the number was closer to $10,000.  

“You guys go in on the New Jersey Elect, obviously, and you find $153 filed. Well, that was back in May, June. That shows how behind New Jersey government is on keeping things updated,” he commented. 

Durr managed to stir up controversy a day after he was elected when a deep dive into his social media accounts revealed a post in 2019 that described Islam as “a false religion” and the faith’s prophet Muhammad as a “pedophile.”

More recently he said the Capitol riot was “not an insurrection … (but) an unauthorized entry by undocumented federal employers,” and took a jab at Vice President Kamala Harris in a Facebook post. 

Durr apologized for his online commentary on Friday, “I’m a passionate guy and I sometimes say things in the heat of the moment,” he remarked. “If I said things in the past that hurt anybody’s feelings, I sincerely apologize.”  

His political Facebook and personal Twitter accounts were deleted on Friday.