New Jersey pollster admits he 'blew it' on governor's race, questions whether election polls should be used

The director of Monmouth University Polling Institute apologized to New Jersey voters on Thursday after inaccurately predicting that New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy would easily defeat GOP candidate Jack Ciattarelli in Tuesday's election.

"If you are a Republican who believes the polls cost Ciattarelli an upset victory or a Democrat who feels we lulled your base into complacency, feel free to vent," Patrick Murray, the director of Monmouth University Polling Institute, wrote in an op-ed for NJ.com on Thursday. 

"I owe an apology to Jack Ciattarelli’s campaign — and to Phil Murphy’s campaign for that matter — because inaccurate public polling can have an impact on fundraising and voter mobilization efforts," he wrote. "But most of all I owe an apology to the voters of New Jersey for information that was at the very least misleading."