New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy dodged a bullet in Tuesday’s election, but one of his key associates did not.

If observers were surprised when Murphy’s eleven-point lead was whittled down to near zero in the run-up to the vote, they were stunned by the defeat of State Senate President Steve Sweeney at the hands of political nonentity Edward Durr. “No one on God’s earth could have predicted that,” says former governor Richard Codey, who proceeded Sweeney as Senate president.

Sweeney, a power broker who had helmed the Senate for 12 years – longer than anyone else in history – had been challenged before. In 2017 the state’s largest teachers’ union spent about $5.4 million to unseat him, in what was said to be the costliest state legislative race in U.S. history, yet Sweeney still won by 18 points. For many, it was “unthinkable” that he would lose in 2021 to an aggrieved and little-known truck driver.

Enter Durr, a “constitutional conservative” who says he was motivated to join the race when he was denied a concealed-carry gun permit. The 58-year-old, who has never held public office, sought a state Assembly seat in 2019 but finished last. This year, Durr told some news outlets that he spent only $153 on his entire campaign (half to Dunkin’ Donuts); he told others he spent less than $10,000. It hardly mattered: in this cycle, blue-collar voters turned out to support Republican candidates, and Sweeney’s district had been trending conservative. Durr caught the zeitgeist.

Curiously, Republicans are not the only ones cheering Sweeney’s demise. As Senate President, Sweeney was a moderate force known as a formidable roadblock to passing progressive legislation. He frequently butted heads with Murphy, a progressive, while bottling up legislation on such issues as marijuana and tax reform. Sweeney enjoyed a cozier relationship with former Republican governor Chris Christie, and deals he struck with Christie on issues such as pension reform continued to make him anathema to public-sector unions..

Sweeney has not yet conceded. And for now, at least, he still wields the gavel; the New Jersey legislature is due to remain in session until January 11. As Senate president, Sweeney also sits on the redistricting commission drawing the district boundaries that will be used in two years, when Durr presumably runs for re-election.