The 1989 New Jersey gubernatorial election was a race for
Governor of New Jersey
The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...
held on November 7, 1989.
Incumbent
The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Thomas Kean
Thomas Howard Kean ( ; born April 21, 1935) is an American businessman, academic administrator and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Kean served as the 48th governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Following his tenure as governor, ...
was
term-limited
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...
after two consecutive terms.
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
James Florio
James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district from 19 ...
, a
U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
from
Camden County and a twice-unsuccessful candidate for Governor, defeated Republican Representative
Jim Courter
James Andrew Courter (born October 14, 1941) is an American Republican Party politician, lawyer, and businessman. He represented parts of northwestern New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1991. In 1989, he uns ...
in a 24-point landslide.
Primary elections were held on Tuesday, June 6. Courter won the Republican nomination over a large field that included state Attorney General
W. Cary Edwards
William Cary Edwards (July 20, 1944 – October 20, 2010) was a New Jersey politician who served as the Attorney General of New Jersey from 1986 to 1989.
Early life
He was born on July 20, 1944, in Paterson, New Jersey or Ridgewood, New Je ...
, Speaker of the Assembly
Chuck Hardwick, and State Senators
Bill Gormley and
Gerald Cardinale
Gerald Cardinale (February 27, 1934 – February 20, 2021) was an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1982 until his death in 2021, representing the 39th Legislative District. He also served one ...
. Florio, who had run in 1977 and 1981 but declined a third campaign in 1985, won the Democratic nomination with little trouble over
Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...
mayor
Barbara Boggs Sigmund
Barbara Boggs Sigmund (May 27, 1939 – October 10, 1990) was an American writer, Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician, and civic leader. She served as a Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County Freeholder and mayor of the Boro ...
and former Speaker
Alan Karcher.
This is the most recent gubernatorial election in New Jersey in which the Democratic nominee won with over 60% of the vote, and the last in which either party did so until 2013. This was the only gubernatorial election from 1977 to 2013 where
Somerset County voted for a Democratic candidate.
Republican primary
Candidates
*Tom Blomquist, retired
Coast Guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...
captain
*
Gerald Cardinale
Gerald Cardinale (February 27, 1934 – February 20, 2021) was an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1982 until his death in 2021, representing the 39th Legislative District. He also served one ...
,
State Senator
A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature.
Description
A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...
from
Demarest
*
Jim Courter
James Andrew Courter (born October 14, 1941) is an American Republican Party politician, lawyer, and businessman. He represented parts of northwestern New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1991. In 1989, he uns ...
, U.S. Representative from
Hackettstown
*
W. Cary Edwards
William Cary Edwards (July 20, 1944 – October 20, 2010) was a New Jersey politician who served as the Attorney General of New Jersey from 1986 to 1989.
Early life
He was born on July 20, 1944, in Paterson, New Jersey or Ridgewood, New Je ...
,
New Jersey Attorney General
The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confir ...
*
William Gormley
William L. "Bill" Gormley (born May 2, 1946) is an American attorney and Republican Party politician whose career in New Jersey's state Legislature spanned four decades. Representing the state's 2nd Legislative District, which includes most of ...
, State Senator from
Mays Landing
Mays Landing is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Hamilton Township, Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
*
Chuck Hardwick, Speaker of the General Assembly
*James A. Kolyer, industrial arts teacher
[
*Lois Rand, former head of the New Jersey Small Business Administration][
Speaker Hardwick announced his campaign on February 9.
]
Campaign
Hardwick presented himself as a slightly more conservative version of Kean, even noting their physical similarities: part of his stump speech was to ask, "How can a Republican Assembly Speaker with a gap-toothed smile, who isn't a lawyer, expect to be Governor?" Nevertheless, he was critical of Kean's proposals for property tax reform, coastal commission to manage growth on the Jersey shore, and his renomination New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Wilentz
Robert Nathan Wilentz (February 17, 1927 – July 23, 1996) was Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court from 1979 to 1996, making him the longest-serving Chief Justice since the Supreme Court became New Jersey's highest court in 1948.
Ear ...
, a liberal. Hardwick, himself a former commuter, also picked a public fight on behalf of New Jersey commuters with Governor of New York Mario Cuomo
Mario Matthew Cuomo (, ; June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 52nd governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, Cuomo previously served as t ...
, attacking New York's income tax on New Jerseyans working in New York City.[
The Hardwick campaign actively sought votes from New Jersey Right to Life, the ]National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...
, and police officers' groups in an attempt to attract unaffiliated voters into the Republican primary.
Hardwick won some early victories, including a non-binding Middlesex County Republican Convention, where he took 51% of the delegates in a county Courter represented in Congress.[
As the campaign concluded and polls showed Courter narrowly behind, he remained confident of victory.]
Endorsements
Polling
Results
On election night, Courter declared victory at around 11:15 P.M., after only Hardwick had conceded. He announced that his campaign would focus on lower insurance rates, lower property taxes, and a stronger death penalty. By then aware that Jim Florio would be his opponent, Courter said the race would be "a great confrontation... a great debate between two people." He emphasized his support for Governor Kean, whom he called "the greatest governor this state has ever had." Campaign advisors attributed his win to a strong performance in his own congressional district, where he outpolled the field two-to-one in every county.[
Edwards attributed his loss to Gormley: "We're good friends, but if one of us had been candidates, I think that the other one would have won."] Hardwick admitted that his campaign had been slipping in internal polling and he had realized he would lose a week before the election. All of the competitive candidates vouched to support Courter actively in the general election.
Aftermath
Edwards would run for Governor once more, in 1993; despite a long trend of New Jersey Republicans nominating a prior runner-up, he was defeated by an upstart candidate, Christine Todd Whitman
Christine Temple Whitman (née Todd; born September 26, 1946) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the administration o ...
, who went on to win the election.
Hardwick re-entered the race for his Assembly seat and won by just 173 votes over Neil M. Cohen. He did not seek re-election in 1991 and retired from politics, moving to New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
Gormley made two more runs for higher office: U.S. House in 1994 and U.S. Senate in 2000; he lost the Republican primary for both to Frank LoBiondo
Frank Alo LoBiondo (: born May 12, 1946) is an American businessman and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1995 to 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party. He represented all of Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and ...
and Bob Franks
Robert Douglas Franks (September 21, 1951 – April 9, 2010) was an American Republican politician who served as a U.S. Representative from New Jersey.
Early life
Franks was born on September 21, 1951, in Hackensack, New Jersey, the son of Norm ...
, respectively.
Cardinale remained in the New Jersey Senate until his death in 2021. He ran for U.S. House in 2002 but finished third in the Republican primary.
Democratic primary
Candidates
*James Florio
James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district from 19 ...
, U.S. Representative
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
and candidate for governor in 1977 and 1981
* Alan Karcher, former Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly
The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.
Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...
*Barbara Boggs Sigmund
Barbara Boggs Sigmund (May 27, 1939 – October 10, 1990) was an American writer, Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician, and civic leader. She served as a Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County Freeholder and mayor of the Boro ...
, Mayor of Princeton
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...
and former Mercer County Freeholder
Polling
Results
General Election
Candidates
*Jim Courter
James Andrew Courter (born October 14, 1941) is an American Republican Party politician, lawyer, and businessman. He represented parts of northwestern New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives from 1979 to 1991. In 1989, he uns ...
, U.S. Representative from Hackettstown (Republican)
*James Florio
James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district from 19 ...
, U.S. Representative from Camden and nominee for governor in 1981 (Democratic)
*Tom Fuscaldo, owner of a television antenna business (One Eye On)
*Daniel M. Karlan, computer programmer (Libertarian
Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
)[
*Catherine Renee Sedwick ( Socialist Workers)][
*Michael Ziruolo, trucking consultant (Better Affordable Government)][
]
Campaign
Florio, who had run in the Democratic primary for Governor in 1977
Events January
* January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group.
* January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...
and lost in an extremely close general election in 1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
to outgoing Governor Thomas Kean, stressed in this campaign that he would govern closer to Kean than the conservative Congressman Courter and that despite the economic growth under Kean and the Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
administrations, he would lead an active government to combat potential overdevelopment and pollution. Following a Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
ruling that would allow states to impose regulations on abortions
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregnan ...
, the pro-choice Florio won the votes of those in favor of abortion rights while Courter who comprised an anti-abortion voting record in Congress sought to moderate his views which led to distrust among voters. To moderate his positions, Florio promised a wider use of the state death penalty
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
for drug crimes and not to raise taxes (the latter promise would be broken in 1990 when he signed a $2.8-billion tax increase which would lead to his 1993 defeat).
Polling
Results
References
External links
U.S. Election Atlas
{{1989 United States elections
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
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 ...
November 1989 events in the United States