2017 New Jersey elections

A general election was held in the U.S. state of New Jersey on November 7, 2017. Primary elections were held on June 6. All elected offices at the state level were on the ballot in this election cycle, including Governor and Lieutenant Governor for four-year terms, all 80 seats in the New Jersey General Assembly for two-year terms, and all 40 seats in the State Senate for four-year terms. In addition to the gubernatorial and State Legislative elections, numerous county offices and Freeholders in addition to municipal offices were up for election. There were two statewide ballot questions and some counties and municipalities also had a local ballot question. Non-partisan local elections, some school board elections, and some fire district elections were also held throughout the year.

Governor

Main article: 2017 New Jersey gubernatorial election

2017 New Jersey gubernatorial election

←  2013 November 7, 2017 2021  →
Turnout	38.5% [1] (1.1%)
Nominee Phil Murphy Kim Guadagno Party Democratic Republican Running mate Sheila Oliver Carlos Rendo Popular vote 1,203,110 899,583 Percentage 56.0% 41.9%
Results by county Results by congressional district Results by municipality Results by state legislative district Murphy:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%     >90% Guadagno:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     >90%
Governor before election Chris Christie Republican Elected Governor Phil Murphy Democratic

Legislature

State Senate

Main article: 2017 New Jersey State Senate election

2017 New Jersey State Senate election

←  2013 November 7, 2017 2021  →
All 40 seats in the New Jersey Senate 21 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Steve Sweeney Thomas Kean Jr. Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 12, 2010 January 8, 2008 Leader's seat 3rd district 21st district Last election 24 16 Seats won 25 15 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 1,185,420 802,418 Percentage 59.5% 40.3% Swing 12.1% 11.8%
Results by district      Democratic hold     Democratic gain      Republican hold     Republican gain
Senate President before election Steve Sweeney Democratic Elected Senate President Steve Sweeney Democratic

All 40 seats of the New Jersey Senate were up for election. Prior to the elections, Democrats held a 24–16 majority in the upper house. Democrats picked up an open seat in District 7 and defeated a Republican incumbent in District 11, while Republicans defeated an appointed Democratic incumbent in District 2. Overall, this resulted in Democrats having a net gain of one seat, increasing their majority to 25–15.

Overall results

↓

25	15
Democratic	Republican

Parties		Candidates	Seats				Popular Vote
			2013	2017	+/-	Strength	Vote	%	Change
	Democratic	40	24	25	1	63%	1,177,295	59.1%	11.7%
	Republican	37	16	15	1	38%	810,543	40.7%	11.4%
	Green	1	0	0		0%	1,306	0.1%	N/A
	Libertarian	1	0	0		0%	574	0.03%	0.02%
	Independent	4	0	0		0%	2,545	0.1%	0.4%
Total		83	40	40	0	100.0%	1,992,263	100.0%	-

General Assembly

Main article: 2017 New Jersey General Assembly election

New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2017

←  2015 November 7, 2017 2019  →
All 80 seats in the New Jersey General Assembly 41 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Vincent Prieto (stepped down) Jon Bramnick Party Democratic Republican Leader since January 14, 2014 January 17, 2012 Leader's seat 32nd (Secaucus) 21st (Westfield) Last election 52 28 Seats won 54 26 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 2,266,879 1,613,865 Percentage 58.1% 41.4% Swing 4.8% 4.5%
Results:      Democratic hold     Democratic gain      Republican hold
Speaker before election Vincent Prieto Democratic Elected Speaker Craig Coughlin Democratic

All 80 seats of the New Jersey General Assembly were up for election. Prior to the elections, Democrats held a 52–28 majority in the lower house. Overall, the Democrats increased their majority by 2 to a supermajority at 54–26, thanks to holding all their seats as well as picking up open seats in District 2 and District 16.

Overall results

↓

54	26
Democratic	Republican

Parties		Candidates	Seats				Popular Vote
			2015	2017	+/-	Strength	Vote	%	Change
	Democratic	80	52	54	2	68%	2,266,879	58.1%	4.8%
	Republican	78	28	26	2	33%	1,613,865	41.4%	4.5%
	Green	4	0	0		0%	4,828	0.1%	0.3%
	Libertarian	4	0	0		0%	2,804	0.1%	0.0%
	Solidarity	1	0	0		0%	821	0.02%	N/A
	Independent	14	0	0		0%	13,537	0.3%	0.0%
Total		181	80	80	0	100.0%	3,902,734	100.0%	-

Ballot measures

Two statewide questions were on the ballot. Both were approved by voters:

• Public Question Number 1, a bond measure that would borrow $125 million to fund capital projects for public libraries. ^{[2] [3]}
• Public Question Number 2, a constitutional amendment that would require money collected from environmental contamination lawsuits to be used for cleanup and restoration efforts. ^{[4] [5]}

Polling

Question 1

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Yes Y	No N	Undecided
Stockton University [6]	October 18–24, 2017	525 LV	± 4.3%	56%	39%	5%
Stockton University [7]	October 4–12, 2017	585 LV	± 4.1%	48%	45%	6%

Question 2

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Yes Y	No N	Undecided
Stockton University [8]	October 18–24, 2017	525 LV	± 4.3%	87%	9%	4%
Stockton University [9]	October 4–12, 2017	585 LV	± 4.1%	79%	13%	8%

Results

Question 1 ^[10]

Question 1 Results by county

Yes:

•   70–80%
•   60–70%
•   50–60%

No:

•   50–60%

Tie:

•   50%

Choice	Votes	%
YesY	970,334	60.03
No N	646,110	39.97
Total votes	1,616,444	100

Question 2 ^[11]

Question 2 Results by county

Yes:

•   70–80%
•   60–70%

Choice	Votes	%
YesY	1,093,448	69.02
No N	490,763	30.98
Total votes	1,584,211	100

References

1. "Total Number of Registered Voters, Ballots Cast, Ballots Rejected, Percentage of Ballots Cast and the Total Number of Election Districts in New Jersey" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 29, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
2. Reitmeyer, John (July 25, 2017). "ONE FOR THE BOOKS: $125M LIBRARY BOND ISSUE ON NOVEMBER BALLOT". NJ Spotlight. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
3. "PUBLIC QUESTION NO. 1" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey . Retrieved September 24, 2017.
4. Gregory, Phil (December 20, 2016). "N.J. voters to decide on disbursing environmental damage funds". newsworks. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
5. "PUBLIC QUESTION NO. 2" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey . Retrieved September 24, 2017.
6. Stockton University
7. Stockton University
8. Stockton University
9. Stockton University
10. "Official List, Public Question Results For 11/07/2017--GENERAL ELECTION" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 29, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
11. "Official List, Public Question Results For 11/07/2017--GENERAL ELECTION" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 29, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2017.