1985 United States gubernatorial elections

1985 United States gubernatorial elections

←  1984 November 5, 1985 1986  →
3 governorships 2 states; 1 territory
Majority party Minority party   Party Democratic Republican Seats before 34 16 Seats after 34 16 Seat change Seats up 1 1 Seats won 1 1
Republican hold   Democratic hold

United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 5, 1985, in two states and one territory. Both seats remained in their respective parties' control, as Democrat Gerald Baliles held the open seat in Virginia, while Republican incumbent Thomas Kean was reelected in New Jersey.

Election results

State	Incumbent	Party	First elected	Result	Candidates
New Jersey	Thomas Kean	Republican	1981	Incumbent re-elected.	Y Thomas Kean (Republican) 69.6% Peter Shapiro (Democratic) 29.3% [1]
Virginia	Chuck Robb	Democratic	1981	Incumbent term-limited. New governor elected. Democratic hold.	Y Gerald Baliles (Democratic) 55.2% Wyatt B. Durrette Jr. (Republican) 44.8% [2]

New Jersey

1985 New Jersey gubernatorial election

←  1981 November 5, 1985 1989  →

Nominee Thomas Kean Peter Shapiro Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 1,372,631 578,402 Percentage 69.6% 29.3%

County results Congressional district results Municipality Results Kean:      50–60%     60–70%     70–80%

Governor before election Thomas Kean Republican Elected Governor Thomas Kean Republican

The 1985 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1985. Incumbent Republican Governor Thomas Kean won a landslide re-election against the Democratic candidate, Essex County Executive Peter Shapiro. As of 2025, Kean's is the largest margin in terms of percentage and raw votes in all New Jersey gubernatorial elections. ^[3] Kean was the first Republican to be re-elected governor since 1949, and the first Republican to ever win two four-year terms.

Virginia

1985 Virginia gubernatorial election

←  1981 November 5, 1985 1989  →
Turnout	53.0% (voting eligible) [4]
Nominee Gerald Baliles Wyatt Durrette Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 741,438 601,652 Percentage 55.2% 44.8%
County and independent city results Baliles:     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Durrette:     50–60%     60–70%
Governor before election Charles Robb Democratic Elected Governor Gerald Baliles Democratic

In the 1985 Virginia gubernatorial election, incumbent Governor Chuck Robb, a Democrat, was unable to seek re-election due to term limits. Jerry Baliles, the Attorney General of Virginia, was nominated by the Democratic Party to run against the Republican nominee, Wyatt B. Durrette.

References

1. Leip, David. "1985 Gubernatorial General Election Results - New Jersey". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 1, 2025.
2. Leip, David. "1985 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Virginia". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved March 1, 2025.
3. O'Neill, Erin (November 29, 2012). "Raymond Bateman says Tom Kean won the 1985 gubernatorial election by largest margin in state's history". PolitiFact New Jersey. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
4. Virginia Department of Elections (2016). "Registration/Turnout Statistics". The Commonwealth of Virginia. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved July 25, 2016.