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 County results Edge: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% Wittpenn: 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in New Jersey |
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The 1916 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1916. Republican nominee Walter Evans Edge defeated Democratic nominee H. Otto Wittpenn with 55.44% of the vote.
Wittpenn, who had run for Governor in 1913 but withdrew in favor of James Fairman Fielder, [1] was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | H. Otto Wittpenn | 95,607 | 100.00% | |
| Total votes | 95,607 | 100.00% | ||
| None | Blank votes | 23,906 | — | |
| Turnout | 119,513 | 100.00% | ||
During the primary, Edge was the beneficiary of a gentleman's agreement between Atlantic County Republican boss Enoch L. Johnson and Hudson County Democratic boss Frank Hague, who feared the election of Otto Wittpenn, a reformer and Hague's political rival. [3] Historians disagree over the counters of Johnson and Hague's arrangement, but in 1916, Hague directed Democratic supporters in Hudson County to cross over and vote for Edge in the Republican primary. [3]
Edge carried the state narrowly over Colgate, with Atlantic County accounting for more than his statewide margin.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Walter Evans Edge | 76,232 | 42.94% | |
| Republican | Austen Colgate | 72,621 | 40.90% | |
| Republican | George L. Record | 28,686 | 16.16% | |
| Total votes | 177,539 | 100.00% | ||
| None | Blank votes | 9,875 | — | |
| Turnout | 187,414 | 100.00% | ||
| County | Edge % | Edge votes | Colgate % | Colgate votes | Record % | Record votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic | 76.01% | 7,329 | 19.19% | 1,850 | 4.80% | 463 |
| Bergen | 32.12% | 3,897 | 47.69% | 5,787 | 20.19% | 2,450 |
| Burlington | 48.75% | 3,715 | 41.27% | 3,145 | 9.99% | 761 |
| Camden | 51.48% | 8,839 | 29.50% | 5,066 | 19.02% | 3,266 |
| Cape May | 76.18% | 2,251 | 15.63% | 462 | 8.19% | 242 |
| Cumberland | 49.62% | 2,099 | 31.63% | 1,338 | 18.75% | 793 |
| Essex | 29.31% | 10,117 | 58.53% | 20,199 | 12.16% | 4,196 |
| Gloucester | 70.01% | 2,486 | 14.90% | 529 | 15.09% | 536 |
| Hudson | 34.00% | 5,138 | 54.69% | 8,264 | 11.32% | 1,710 |
| Hunterdon | 64.89% | 972 | 12.88% | 193 | 22.23% | 333 |
| Mercer | 39.77% | 4,152 | 28.16% | 2,940 | 32.07% | 3,348 |
| Middlesex | 35.41% | 1,849 | 47.84% | 2,498 | 16.76% | 875 |
| Monmouth | 37.99% | 2,481 | 45.46% | 2,969 | 16.55% | 1,081 |
| Morris | 43.91% | 3,153 | 36.11% | 2,593 | 19.97% | 1,434 |
| Ocean | 49.49% | 1,419 | 38.58% | 1,106 | 11.93% | 342 |
| Passaic | 42.68% | 7,818 | 36.95% | 6,768 | 20.37% | 3,731 |
| Salem | 71.89% | 1,051 | 13.47% | 197 | 14.64% | 214 |
| Somerset | 44.54% | 1,545 | 34.53% | 1,198 | 20.93% | 726 |
| Sussex | 45.51% | 598 | 36.38% | 478 | 18.11% | 238 |
| Union | 43.66% | 4,689 | 42.72% | 4,589 | 13.62% | 1,463 |
| Warren | 40.38% | 634 | 28.79% | 452 | 30.83% | 484 |
In the general election, Frank Hague is believed to have discouraged fellow Democrats from voting for Wittpenn.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Walter Evans Edge | 247,343 | 55.44% | ||
| Democratic | H. Otto Wittpenn | 177,696 | 39.83% | ||
| Socialist | Frederick Krafft | 12,900 | 2.89% | ||
| Prohibition | Harry Vaughan | 5,873 | 1.32% | ||
| Socialist Labor | John C. Butterworth | 2,334 | 0.52% | ||
| Majority | |||||
| Turnout | |||||
| Republican gain from Democratic | Swing | ||||
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