Surprises from a New Jersey trucker

(New York) Everyone loves stories that end with a contemporary David triumphing over the Goliath he is opposed to, no matter what.

Richard Hétu
Special collaboration

But the story goes a little less well when we later learn that one of these David’s, for example, made questionable or intolerant comments about Muslims, vaccination, Kamala Harris and the attack on the United States Capitol. .

This is the story of Edward Durr, which was compelling at first glance. The 58-year-old trucker for a furniture store chain won the most surprising victory in the elections held on November 2 in the United States. The Republican nominee defeated New Jersey Democratic President of the Senate Stephen Sweeney, the state’s most powerful politician after the governor.

And he accomplished this feat by spending just $ 153, which is $ 66.64 at Dunkin ‘Donuts to buy donuts and coffee for his campaign staff and $ 86.67 for flyers.

At least that’s what he told reporters, before correcting this information. In the end, his campaign will have cost him between $ 5,000 and $ 10,000, expenses which remain far lower than those of his rival. The latter drew $ 490,576 from his well-stocked campaign fund to secure his re-election and help other Democratic candidates in New Jersey.

One thing is certain: Edward Durr did not strain his budget to film the video that launched his campaign. He used a cell phone.

“In 2020, my opponent sat and looked at the governor [Phil] Murphy forcing retirement homes to accept patients with COVID-19, which has resulted in the death of more than 8,000 of our elders, ”he said in this video in particular while surveying a cemetery.

“Islam is a false religion! ”

Even though this was not his first election campaign – he ran unsuccessfully for a New Jersey Assembly seat in 2019 and a Logan City Council seat in 2020 – Edward Durr wasn’t really hoping for it. be elected to the Senate of their state.

And Stephen Sweeney did not expect to lose the post he has held since 2010. This former steelworker, who rose through the ranks of the union world before doing the same in politics, had seen others. In 2017, he survived the costliest campaign in U.S. history for a seat in a state parliamentary assembly.

However, the idea of ​​taking a look at Edward Durr’s Twitter and Facebook accounts never occurred to him, nor to his advisers. Yet there was information there that could sink his Republican rival.

“Muhammad was a pedophile! Islam is a false religion! Only fools subscribe to Muslim teachings! It is a cult of hate! Edward Durr tweeted in September 2019.

On January 9, he posted a message on Facebook questioning the participation of supporters of Donald Trump in the assault on Capitol Hill. “Stunt? He asked after referring to a video allegedly showing police officers opening doors for protesters.

On the same platform, he recently relayed an image comparing the atrocities inflicted on Jews by the Nazis during World War II to restrictive measures imposed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And he claimed on Facebook that the only reasons Kamala Harris was sworn in as vice president were her skin color and gender.

It was not until the day after Edward Durr won by some 2,000 votes that these messages surfaced in the media.

“A protest vote”

“I am a passionate man and I sometimes say things under the influence of emotion,” said the Republican candidate last Friday after deleting his Twitter and Facebook accounts.

But how could a man like Edward Durr triumph in a southwestern New Jersey constituency made up of a predominantly white electorate spread across suburban towns and rural communities?

“To say it’s a shock is an understatement,” said Brigid Harrison, a political scientist at Montclair State University and a former candidate for the House of Representatives in a constituency in southern New Jersey. .

“Looking back, it looks like Steve Sweeney’s voters wanted to register a protest vote against both Biden’s and Murphy’s agenda,” she added.

In a state where Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by 16 percentage points in 2020, Governor Murphy edged out Republican rival Jack Cittarelli by just 2.6 percentage points on November 2.

Examining the polls and results closely, Brigid Harrison concluded that the political situation for Governor Murphy and President Biden began to deteriorate as the primary concern of voters shifted from the COVID-19 pandemic “to the economy. , taxes and employment ”.

“It is unthinkable that someone of Steve Sweeney’s stature would be collateral damage. But in fact it was. Nobody expected that, ”she said.

It remains to be seen whether Edward Durr has any other surprises in store for New Jersey.