The New York Times and other news media also called the Democratic and Republican primary races for Murphy and Guadagno.
A wealthy former Goldman Sachs executive will square off with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's top deputy in the race to replace the unpopular governor.
Murphy is a former ambassador under President Barack Obama and one-time Goldman Sachs executive who loaned his campaign $16 million.
Murphy immediately linked his Republican opponent, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, to Christie and President Trump.
In New Jersey, though, the double blow of Trump's underwater approval rating and Christie's historic unpopularity - (in December, Quinnipiac University found his approval rating at 19%, the lowest of any governor in any state in more than 20 years of polling) - have made for a tougher-than-usual atmosphere for Republicans in an already mostly blue state.
The gubernatorial race - like the one in Virginia - is of outsized importance as one of the only two statewide contests in the first year of President Donald Trump's tenure in office.
His Democratic rivals included: former Treasury Department official Jim Johnson, state Assemblyman Jon Wisniewski, state Sen.
Guadagno has hundreds of days of experience on the job, as, over the past several years, she has become acting governor when Christie travels out of state.
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"I'm running for governor based on my values, based on my record and based on my principles", she said.
Experts said the race showed once again the power of New Jersey's county political organizations, where party bosses virtually unknown outside their territories still wield considerable influence in picking winners and losers by controlling which candidates for governor top the party's ballot.
Poll worker Audrey Ginsberg places an "I Voted" sticker on Gov. Chris Christie at the Brookside Emergency Services Building during the primary election on Tuesday, June 6, 2017 in Mendham, N.J. New Jersey voters are getting down to the business of picking a successor to Christie, the winners will go on to compete in the November 7 general election. He has said he would campaign if asked, but it's unclear whether his assistance would help or hurt, since about three-quarters of voters disapprove of his job performance.
Mr. Christie, a Republican who can't run for a third term, has sought to burnish his economic legacy in recent months. Guadagno said she plans to pay for the plan partially through a "Trenton audit" that would cut down on bureaucratic spending, but the details have been hazy and her other proposed funding source - natural revenue growth in the budget - is now going nearly entirely to ballooning pension and health care costs. He said he doesn't see her as a Christie clone but does see similarities between Murphy and Corzine.
Guadagno faced state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, Nutley Commissioner Steven Rogers, as well as businessmen Joseph Rullo and Hirsh Singh.
Associated Press writer Alan Suderman contributed to this report.
Former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie is favored to win the GOP primary over a Trump's former state campaign chairman.
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