1965 New Jersey gubernatorial election

1965 New Jersey gubernatorial election

←  1961 November 2, 1965 1969  →
Turnout	72.7% of eligible voters (0.6 pp) [1]
Nominee Richard J. Hughes Wayne Dumont Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,279,568 915,996 Percentage 57.4% 41.1%
County results Hughes:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Dumont:      50–60%
Governor before election Richard J. Hughes Democratic Elected Governor Richard J. Hughes Democratic

The 1965 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 1965. Incumbent Democrat Richard J. Hughes defeated Republican nominee Wayne Dumont with 57.39% of the vote. The gubernatorial elections from 1953 to 1965 are the last in New Jersey in which any party won more than two consecutive elections. This is the most recent time a Democrat was reelected Governor with a higher share of the vote than the previous election.

Primary elections were held on June 1, 1965. ^[2] Hughes was easily re-elected over token opposition from William H. Clark, while Dumont won a narrow primary over fellow state senator Charles W. Sandman Jr. of Cape May County.

Bergen County voted Democratic for the first time since 1931, and since this election, the county has become a bellwether having voted for the winning candidate all but once since. Democrats simultaneously flipped both houses of the New Jersey legislature, a first since 1915.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Richard J. Hughes, incumbent Governor
• William H. Clark, Newark Marxist activist and member of the Negro-Labor Vanguard

Results

Democratic primary results ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Richard J. Hughes (incumbent)	236,518	90.89%
	Democratic	William J. Clark	23,722	9.12%
Total votes			260,240	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Wayne Dumont, State Senator from Warren County
• Charles W. Sandman, Jr., State Senator from Cape May County
• Harold P. Poeschel, Short Hills life insurance agent and perennial Conservative Party candidate ^{[3] [4]}

Declined

• Nelson Stamler, State Senator from Union County ^[5] (endorsed Sandman)

Campaign

Senator Nelson Stamler ran an unannounced campaign for party support, citing opposition to court-mandated legislative redistricting and Dumont's proposal for a sales tax. After failing to gain endorsements, Stamler declined to run and instead endorsed Sandman. ^[5]

Results

Republican Party primary results ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Wayne Dumont	167,402	50.35%
	Republican	Charles W. Sandman Jr.	154,491	46.47%
	Republican	Harold P. Poeschel	10,576	3.18%
Total votes			332,469	100.00%

General election

Candidates

• Wayne Dumont, State Senator from Warren County (Republican)
• Richard J. Hughes, incumbent Governor since 1962 (Democratic)
• Julius Levin, apartment manager (Socialist Labor)
• Robert Lee Schlachter (Conservative)
• Ruth F. Shiminsky (Socialist Workers)
• Christopher C. Vespucci (Veterans Choice)

Results

New Jersey gubernatorial election, 1965 ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Richard J. Hughes (incumbent)	1,279,568	57.39%	7.02
	Republican	Wayne Dumont	915,996	41.08%	7.66
	Conservative	Robert Lee Schlachter	20,753	0.93%	0.73
	Independent	Christopher C. Vespucci	5,378	0.24%	N/A
	Socialist Labor	Julius Levin	4,669	0.21%	0.11
	Socialist Workers	Ruth F. Shiminsky	3,219	0.14%	0.09
Majority
Turnout
	Democratic hold		Swing

Results by county

County	Hughes votes	Hughes %	Dumont votes	Dumont %	Other votes	Other %
Atlantic	35,245	52.1%	30,455	45.0%	1,999	3.0%
Bergen	179,197	55.9%	138,097	43.1%	2,997	0.9%
Burlington	35,468	53.0%	30,666	45.8%	843	1.3%
Camden	73,926	56.5%	53,241	40.7%	3,728	2.9%
Cape May	11,127	50.8%	10,449	47.7%	335	1.6%
Cumberland	19,501	55.0%	15,800	44.6%	159	0.4%
Essex	178,830	60.9%	109,081	37.1%	5,830	2.0%
Gloucester	26,411	51.6%	24,487	47.8%	328	0.7%
Hudson	156,671	72.3%	55,632	25.7%	4,513	2.1%
Hunterdon	8,996	43.0%	11,726	56.1%	189	0.9%
Mercer	62,835	65.0%	33,206	34.3%	634	0.7%
Middlesex	114,548	64.7%	61,063	34.5%	1,479	0.8%
Monmouth	64,525	51.7%	58,959	47.2%	1,365	1.1%
Morris	46,174	45.2%	54,306	53.1%	1,709	1.7%
Ocean	23,982	44.5%	28,879	53.6%	1,041	1.9%
Passaic	78,193	57.2%	55,998	40.9%	2,581	1.9%
Salem	11,629	53.5%	10,054	46.2%	62	0.3%
Somerset	29,659	50.7%	27,207	46.5%	1,588	2.8%
Sussex	9,162	41.1%	13,002	58.3%	135	0.5%
Union	103,067	56.0%	78,820	42.8%	2,277	1.3%
Warren	10,422	40.8%	14,868	58.3%	227	0.8%

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Atlantic
• Bergen
• Cape May
• Monmouth
• Union
• Somerset

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

• Warren

References

1. Donald Lan, Secretary of State. "Results of the General Election Held November 8, 1977" (PDF). Retrieved August 8, 2025.
2. "Results of the Primary Election Held June 1, 1965" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1965. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
3. "Williams Is Given Edge on Shanley – Anti‐Goldwater Vote Seen Going to Jersey Senator". The New York Times. October 26, 1964. p. 34.
4. Waggoner, Walter H. (May 30, 1965). "G.O.P. Fights Pace Jersey Primaries; 3,146,000 Are Eligible to Vote on Tuesday". The New York Times . p. 54.
5. "Stamler Indicates Entry Into Jersey G.O.P. Primary". The New York Times. March 7, 1965. p. 58.
6. "Votes Cast for the Office of Governor of the State of New Jersey" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1965. Retrieved August 24, 2015.