The 1925 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1925. Democratic
Jersey City
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.A. Harry Moore
Arthur Harry Moore (July 3, 1877 – November 18, 1952) was an American Democratic politician and attorney who was the 39th governor of New Jersey, serving three nonconsecutive three-year terms between 1926 and 1941. As of , Moore remains t ...
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
Thomas Francis McCran (December 2, 1875 – September 19, 1925) was an American jurist and Republican Party politician who served as Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly, President of the New Jersey Senate, and Attorney General of New J ...
and judge Cornelius Doremus.
Democratic primary
Candidates
*
A. Harry Moore
Arthur Harry Moore (July 3, 1877 – November 18, 1952) was an American Democratic politician and attorney who was the 39th governor of New Jersey, serving three nonconsecutive three-year terms between 1926 and 1941. As of , Moore remains t ...
,
Jersey City
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Ridgefield
*
Thomas F. McCran
Thomas Francis McCran (December 2, 1875 – September 19, 1925) was an American jurist and Republican Party politician who served as Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly, President of the New Jersey Senate, and Attorney General of New J ...
, former New Jersey Attorney General (1919–24) and State Senator for
Passaic County
Passaic County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the population of Passaic County was enumerated at 524,118, an increase of 22,892 (4.6%) from t ...
Walter Evans Edge
Walter Evans Edge (November 20, 1873October 29, 1956) was an American diplomat and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician who served as the 36th governor of New Jersey, from 1917 to 1919 and again from 1944 to 1947, during both ...
and much of the state party establishment. Whitney was supported by the prohibitionist Anti-Saloon League.
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."
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
Lincoln Clark Andrews (1867–1950) was a brigadier general in the United States Army during World War I and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury starting in 1925. As Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, he was in charge of Prohibition enforcement. ...
, congratulating him on his work to disrupt rum smuggling in the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
.
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."
Fundraising
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.
Results
Whitney won the primary by around 27,000 votes over McCran, with Doremus around another 43,000 votes behind McCran's total.
Aftermath
Thomas McCran died in September.
General election
Candidates
*John C. Butterworth (Socialist Labor)
*Leo M. Harkins (Socialist)
*
A. Harry Moore
Arthur Harry Moore (July 3, 1877 – November 18, 1952) was an American Democratic politician and attorney who was the 39th governor of New Jersey, serving three nonconsecutive three-year terms between 1926 and 1941. As of , Moore remains t ...
, 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, and for the third straight election, the Democratic candidate won.
Results
Results by county
References
{{1925 United States elections, state=collapsed
1925
Events January
* January 1
** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria.
* January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
Gubernatorial
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political_regions, political region, ranking under the Head of State, head of state and in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of ...