Incumbent John Hogan Leads Bridget Kelly In Bergen Co. Clerk Race

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — Incumbent Bergen County Clerk John Hogan overcame an initial deficit, and now holds a steady lead over former Chris Christie staffer Bridget Kelly.

Kelly, running for county clerk as a Republican, garnered 46 percent of the vote to Hogan's 53 percent, according to unofficial results from the Associated Press. The race hasn't been called by the AP, with all precincts reporting as of Wednesday morning.

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The once embattled staffer — the sender of the "time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" email — took the moment, even amidst uncertain results, to reflect.

"Five years ago this week, 12 people said one thing. We won’t know the results tonight but win or lose, more than 100k voters are saying something else," she said.

Kelly had an early lead, but mail-in votes are likely what will garner Hogan a victory if it indeed comes.

According to the Bergen County Clerk's unofficial vote total, Kelly garnered 50 percent of the ballots filed on election day, but Hogan carries a heavy lead when it comes to mail-in ballots. Hogan garnered 30,731 mail-in votes to Kelly's 9,484.

Here are the latest totals from the AP:

• John Hogan (D) — 130,348
• Bridget Kelly (R) — 111,613