1997 New Jersey gubernatorial election

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1997 New Jersey gubernatorial election
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←  1993 November 4, 1997 2001  →
  WhitmanChristineTodd.jpg Jim McGreevey 2009 Exodus 7 (cropped).jpg
Nominee Christine Todd Whitman Jim McGreevey
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote1,133,3941,107,968
Percentage46.9%45.8%
1997 New Jersey gubernatorial election results map by county.svg
1997 New Jersey gubernatorial election by Congressional District.svg
Whitman:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
McGreevey:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%
Governor before election

Christine Todd Whitman
Republican

Elected Governor

Christine Todd Whitman
Republican

The 1997 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1997. In the Democratic primary, state senator and Woodbridge Township mayor James McGreevey defeated pre-U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews [1] by 9,993 votes. In the general election, Republican Governor Christine Todd Whitman defeated McGreevey by 26,953 votes. Whitman won 46.87% of the vote, with Democratic nominee James McGreevey receiving 45.82% and Libertarian Murray Sabrin receiving 4.7%.

Contents

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

Republican Party primary results [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Christine Todd Whitman (incumbent)147,731 100.00
Total votes147,731 100.00

Democratic primary

Candidates

Results

Democratic primary results by county .mw-parser-output .legend{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .legend-color{display:inline-block;min-width:1.25em;height:1.25em;line-height:1.25;margin:1px 0;text-align:center;border:1px solid black;background-color:transparent;color:black}.mw-parser-output .legend-text{} McGreevey 40-50% 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% Andrews 50-60% 60-70% 70-80% 80-90% Murphy 40-50% 60-70% 1997 New Jersey gubernatorial Democratic primary results map by county.svg
Democratic primary results by county
  McGreevey
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  Andrews
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  •   80–90%
  Murphy
  •   40–50%
  •   60–70%
Democratic Party primary results [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Jim McGreevey 148,153 39.86
Democratic Rob Andrews138,16037.17
Democratic Michael Murphy79,17221.30
Democratic Frank C. Marmo6,1891.67
Total votes371,674 100

General election

Candidates

Campaign

In June, a 60-second radio ad paid for by the New Jersey Republican Party focused on the 30% income tax cut and 180,000 new jobs. Whitman's ads blamed McGreevey for the state's auto insurance rates. The Whitman campaign emphasized the drops in unemployment, violent crime and welfare rolls during her term. Other ads took aim at McGreevey's record on taxes, particularly his support for former Gov. Jim Florio's (D) tax increase. The RNC criticized former Gov. Jim Florio (D) in an ad October, calling his 1990 tax increase a result of electing "liberal Democrats".

In September, McGreevey unveiled two TV ads criticizing Whitman and focusing on property taxes, auto insurance rates, pension bond debts, and education standards. The Democratic National Committee also spent $1 million during the home stretch of the campaign on television ads for Democratic candidates statewide. In October, a poll found that voters of NJ called auto insurance the most important issue in the campaign, and property taxes second.

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered		Sample
size		Margin of
error		Jim
McGreevey (D)		Christine Todd
Whitman (R)		Murray
Sabrin (L)		OtherUndecided
Rutgers-Eagleton June 6–8, 1997602 RV±3.5%38%44%—18%
Rutgers-Eagleton June 11–16, 1997613 RV±3.5%33%49%—18%
Rutgers-Eagleton September 2–7, 1997673 RV±3.5%35%47%—18%
32%47%3%18%
Quinnipiac College September 8–13, 1997865±3.3%37%49%—4%10%
Rutgers-Eagleton October 12–15, 1997631 RV±3.5%40%45%—15%
38%42%6%14%
Quinnipiac College October 14–20, 19971,120±2.9%37%45%8%1%9%
New York Times/CBS News October 25–29, 19971,082±3.0%33%44%8%3%12%
Rutgers-Eagleton October 28–31, 1997613 LV±3.0%36%45%9%18%

Results

This was the first gubernatorial election in the state since 1949 where a Republican won without Passaic County.

New Jersey gubernatorial election, 1997 [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Christine Todd Whitman (incumbent)1,133,394 46.87% Decrease2.svg2.46
Democratic Jim McGreevey 1,107,96845.82%Decrease2.svg2.47
Libertarian Murray Sabrin 114,1724.72%Increase2.svg4.40
Conservative Richard J. Pezzullo34,9061.44%Increase2.svg1.24
Green Madelyn R. Hoffman10,7030.44%N/A
Independent Michael Perrone, Jr.6,8050.28%N/A
Socialist Workers Robert B. Miller2,8160.12%Increase2.svg0.07
Socialist Greg Pason2,8000.12%N/A
Natural Law Lincoln Norton2,5400.11%N/A
Independent Nuncie A. Ripa, Jr.2,2400.09%N/A
Plurality25,4261.05%Increase2.svg0.01
Turnout 2,418,344
Republican hold Swing

Results by county

CountyWhitman votesWhitman %McGreevey votesMcGreevey %Other votesOther %
Atlantic 31,36447.3%29,09143.9%5,7918.7%
Bergen 148,93453.3%118,83442.5%11,9034.3%
Burlington 55,52343.5%60,69047.5%11,4859.0%
Camden 51,64335.7%82,02856.7%10,9337.6%
Cape May 18,22749.6%15,39541.9%3,1598.6%
Cumberland 13,65136.5%19,97753.5%3,72910.0%
Essex 69,47035.5%120,42961.2%6,7783.4%
Gloucester 30,31438.4%41,08252.1%7,5199.5%
Hudson 47,46835.6%80,52660.4%5,3944.0%
Hunterdon 24,46559.5%10,98326.7%5,69813.8%
Mercer 44,05640.8%54,97750.9%8,9058.3%
Middlesex 83,14939.3%110,35452.2%17,9115.5%
Monmouth 105,53553.9%74,09837.8%16,1898.3%
Morris 97,41465.4%41,29627.7%10,2526.9%
Ocean 84,89753.8%57,94436.7%15,0769.5%
Passaic 55,54145.2%60,25649.1%6,9665.7%
Salem 10,68649.9%8,79041.0%1,9509.1%
Somerset 51,46557.4%29,08932.4%9,15410.2%
Sussex 25,45860.4%11,33126.9%5,33212.7%
Union 68,72146.6%69,67347.2%9,0656.1%
Warren 15,41350.8%11,12536.7%3,79312.5%

Notes

  1. ↑ Only top two candidates

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References

  1. ↑ Pulley, Brett (June 4, 1997). "McGreevey Wins Democratic Nod for Governor" – via NYTimes.com.
  2. 1 2 "Official List Gubernatorial Primary Election Returns by County for Election held June 3, 1997" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Elections.
  3. ↑ "Official Results Gubernatorial General Election Returns by County for Election held November 4, 1997" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Elections.
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