1925 New Jersey gubernatorial election

1925 New Jersey gubernatorial election

←  1922 November 3, 1925 1928  →
Turnout	74.27% [1]
Nominee A. Harry Moore Arthur Whitney Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 471,549 433,121 Percentage 51.87% 47.64%
County results Moore:      50–60%     70–80% Whitney:      40–50%     50-60%     60–70%
Governor before election George Sebastian Silzer Democratic Elected Governor A. Harry Moore Democratic

The 1925 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1925. Democratic Jersey City Commissioner A. Harry Moore defeated Republican State Senator Arthur Whitney with 51.87% of the vote.

Primary elections were held in June. Whitney defeated former New Jersey Attorney General Thomas F. McCran and judge Cornelius Doremus.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• A. Harry Moore, Jersey City Commissioner

Results

1925 Democratic gubernatorial primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	A. Harry Moore	105,330	84.64%
	Write-in		19,108	15.36%
Total votes			124,438	100.00%
	Democratic	Rejected ballots	1,471
Turnout			125,909

Republican primary

Candidates

• Cornelius Doremus, former judge from Ridgefield ^[3]
• Thomas F. McCran, former New Jersey Attorney General (1919–24) and State Senator for Passaic County
• Arthur Whitney, State Senator for Morris County

Campaign

McCran had the support of Senator Walter Evans Edge and much of the state party establishment. Whitney was supported by the prohibitionist Anti-Saloon League. ^[4]

Establishment support for McCran was so strong that the party moved its primary from September to June, apparently to advantage McCran. Nevertheless, Whitney remained confident, expressing, "the Republican voters will repudiate the boss-ridden machine supporting my opponent." ^[5]

The third candidate in the race, judge Cornelius Doremus, ran as an ardent supporter of Prohibition. Near the end of the campaign, he wrote a public letter to Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Lincoln C. Andrews, congratulating him on his work to disrupt rum smuggling in the Atlantic Ocean. ^[5]

Whitney accused Doremus, a former Democrat, of trying to draw prohibitionist votes away from his campaign and of being in league with McCran and the state party. On the night before the primary, he declared, "They are in flagrant combination against me." ^[5]

Fundraising

Primary campaign finance activity through June 15, 1925
Candidate	Raised	Spent	Cash on hand
Cornelius Doremus	$22,720	$18,082.82	$4,637.18
Thomas McCran	$17,445	$16,169.17	$1,275.83
Arthur Whitney	$49,470	$37,082.18	$12,387.82
Source: [3]

The primary spending limit under the law at the time was $50,000. Senator Edge contributed $5,000 to McCran's campaign, and McCran contributed the same amount himself. Whitney and Doremus contributed the bulk of their own campaign funds, at $42,000 and $19,350 respectively. ^[3]

Results

Whitney won the primary by around 27,000 votes over McCran, with Doremus around another 43,000 votes behind McCran's total. ^[5]

1925 Republican gubernatorial primary ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Arthur Whitney	155,248	42.67%
	Republican	Thomas F. McCran	123,262	33.88%
	Republican	Cornelius J. Doremus	59,593	16.38%
	Write-in		25,753	7.08%
Total votes			363,856	100.00%
	Republican	Rejected ballots	2,863
Turnout			366,719

Aftermath

Thomas McCran died in September. ^[4]

General election

Candidates

• John C. Butterworth (Socialist Labor)
• Leo M. Harkins (Socialist)
• A. Harry Moore, Jersey City Commissioner (Democratic)
• Eugene A. Smith (Prohibition)
• George Perlman (Workers)
• Joseph Ferguson (Commonwealth Land)
• Arthur Whitney, State Senator for Morris County (Republican)

Campaign

For the third straight election, the campaign was split between prohibitionist Republicans and anti-Prohibition Democrats, ^[5] and for the third straight election, the Democratic candidate won.

Results

New Jersey gubernatorial election, 1925 ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	A. Harry Moore	471,549	51.87%	–0.32%
	Republican	Arthur Whitney	433,121	47.64%	+0.82%
	Socialist	Leo M. Harkins	1,956	0.22%	–0.47%
	Prohibition	Eugene A. Smith	1,198	0.13%	N/A
	Socialist Labor	John C. Butterworth	594	0.07%	N/A
	Independent	George Perlman	591	0.07%	N/A
	Independent	Joseph Ferguson	153	0.02%	N/A
Total votes			909,162	100.00%
Majority			38,428	4.23%	–1.14%
Turnout			909,162	69.47%
Registered electors			1,308,674
	Democratic hold		Swing	–0.57%

Results by county

County	Moore		Whitney		Others		Total	Margin
	Votes	Percent	Votes	Percent	Votes	Percent	Votes	Votes	Percent
Atlantic	13,207	41.06%	18,739	58.25%	221	0.69%	32,167	-5,532	-17.19%
Bergen	33,507	42.42%	45,013	56.98%	472	0.60%	78,992	-11,506	-14.56%
Burlington	8,473	37.42%	14,111	62.32%	60	0.26%	22,644	-5,638	-24.90%
Camden	22,525	41.40%	31,431	57.77%	448	0.83%	54,404	-8,906	-16.37%
Cape May	3,311	37.58%	5,470	62.09%	29	0.33%	8,810	-2,159	-26.10%
Cumberland	5,475	33.71%	10,675	65.73%	90	0.56%	16,240	-5,200	-32.02%
Essex	65,158	49.64%	65,449	49.86%	661	0.50%	131,268	-291	-0.22%
Gloucester	5,901	34.54%	11,008	64.42%	178	1.04%	17,087	-5,107	-29.88%
Hudson	152,582	75.54%	48,587	24.05%	828	0.41%	201,997	103,995	51.49%
Hunterdon	5,393	45.50%	6,418	54.14%	43	0.36%	11,854	-1,025	-8.64%
Mercer	19,276	49.22%	19,801	50.56%	88	0.22%	39,165	-525	-1.34%
Middlesex	26,873	52.99%	23,672	46.67%	173	0.34%	50,718	3,201	6.32%
Monmouth	20,390	46.26%	23,618	53.58%	73	0.16%	44,081	-3,228	-7.32%
Morris	12,284	39.41%	18,748	60.14%	137	0.44%	31,169	-6,464	-20.73%
Ocean	4,116	37.79%	6,744	61.92%	31	0.29%	10,891	-2,628	-24.13%
Passaic	28,791	51.66%	26,421	47.41%	517	0.93%	55,729	2,370	4.25%
Salem	3,813	37.37%	6,324	61.99%	65	0.64%	10,202	-2,511	-24.62%
Somerset	6,835	41.73%	9,506	58.03%	40	0.24%	16,381	-2,671	-16.30%
Sussex	4,354	47.20%	4,836	52.43%	34	0.37%	9,224	-482	-5.23%
Union	23,552	43.94%	29,813	55.62%	239	0.44%	53,604	-6,261	-11.68%
Warren	5,733	45.74%	6,737	53.74%	65	0.52%	12,535	-1,004	-8.00%
Total	471,549	51.87%	433,121	47.64%	4,492	0.49%	909,162	38,428	4.23%

References

1. "General Election Data - 1924 to 2022" (PDF). NJ.gov.
2. "WHITNEY WON BY 31,986: Formal Statement of Jersey Primary Puts Total Vote at 493,348". The New York Times . July 9, 1925.
3. "STATE CAMPAIGN EXPENSES.; McCran Spent $16,169, Whitney $37,082 and Doremus $18,082". June 14, 1925. p. E3. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
4. "T. F. M'Cran Dies After Campaign". The New York Times . September 20, 1925. p. E7. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
5. "THE NEW JERSEY PRIMARY". The New York Times . June 18, 1925. p. 20. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
6. "Votes Cast for the Office of Governor of the State of New Jersey" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1925. Retrieved September 5, 2015.