Who the heck voted for Murphy, anyway? Here's the map

How did Gov. Phil Murphy get elected?

It's a question readers and listeners often raise after hearing about the latest news story involving New Jersey's Democratic governor — from raising taxes, to providing public funds to help people fight deportation, to hiring a corrupt politician for his administration.

But Murphy does continue to have his support. Opinion polls have consistently placed him above 50 percent approval.

And his victory over former Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno was decisive: 56 to 42 percent.

For those of you who still find the thought of a Murphy Administration hard to believe, here's a brief run-down of the numbers.

Murphy got 1.2 million votes to Guadagno's 899,583.

Guadagno's vote total was the lowest that a Republican candidate in the state has received since 1989. But Murphy's victory still didn't beat former Gov. Chris Christie's re-election landslide over Barbara Buono. Christie got 1.28 million votes and 60 percent of the vote.

While the Murphy-Guadagno election's $79 million price tag was the second-most expensive contest on record, it also had the lowest voter turnout.

Only 38.5 percent of New Jersey's eligible voters cast a ballot in the 2017 gubernatorial election — 3.56 million stayed home.

Voter turnout ranged from a low of 32 percent in Passaic to a high of 48 percent in Hunterdon.