Following one of the nastiest and most expensive races in the Garden state this year, incumbent state Senator Bob Gordon has won re-election - defeating republican challenger John Driscoll, who serves as Bergen County Freeholder Chairman.

The contest - which was neck-and-neck for weeks - was considered to be the best chance for the GOP to break through and pick up a seat in the Upper House…which is why Governor Christie made a TV commercial for Driscoll, asking voters to send him to Trenton to help lower property taxes and create jobs.

In the end, Gordon won a slim but decisive victory.

He told cheering supporters at his headquarters in Wood-ridge " I have a feeling there's not much of a party at Drumthwacket…for the past 6 months the republicans have attacked up relentlessly - they opened fire on us with everything they had - but we stood strong, we stood firm, and today we are standing in victory."

He then said his victory "is a win for independent leadership - it's a win for everybody who wants Trenton to serve the needs of working families - it's a win for everybody who believes in real ideas and solutions, it's a win for every resident who wants us to get serious about creating jobs - about delivering real property tax relief, about helping our flood-weary towns - it's about making sure the middle class and seniors are the priority, and not the millionaires…and ss my friends in labor know, it's a win for everyone who believes in the sanctity of collective bargaining!"

The crowd erupted in cheers.

Gordon then said "this campaign was the toughest thing I've ever done…the redistricting map showed us we had one of the most challenging races in the state…we knew we had to win this battle on the ground - we knocked on 7 thousand dollars …we had an army of foot soldiers whose support was both humbling and inspiring…we had the police, we had the firefighters, we had the nurses, we had the teachers, we had the environmental groups…we had the middle class - we could not have won without them and this victory is for them."

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