The 1985 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1985.

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, ...

won a landslide re-election against the Democratic candidate, Essex County Executive Peter Shapiro. As of , Kean's is the largest margin in terms of percentage and raw votes in all modern

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 elections. Kean was the first Republican to be re-elected governor since 1949, and the first Republican to ever win two four-year terms.

Primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

s were held on June 4. Kean was unopposed for the Republican nomination. In the Democratic primary, Shapiro prevailed over strong competition from Senate President John F. Russo and Newark mayor

Kenneth A. Gibson Kenneth Allen Gibson (May 15, 1932 – March 29, 2019) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 36th mayor of Newark, New Jersey, from 1970 to 1986. He was the first African American elected mayor of any major city in the ...

Stephen B. Wiley Stephen Bradford Wiley (June 21, 1929 – October 8, 2015) was an American attorney, poet, businessman, civic leader, and Democratic Party politician. Wiley served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1973 to 1978, where he represented Morris C ...

and Robert Del Tufo ran competitive campaigns but finished well behind the top three. The general election was a foregone conclusion in favor of the popular incumbent. Kean won 564 out of 567

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

(all except Audubon Park, Chesilhurst, and

Roosevelt Roosevelt may refer to: *Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919), 26th U.S. president * Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945), 32nd U.S. president Businesses and organisations * Roosevelt Hotel (disambiguation) * Roosevelt & Son, a merchant bank * Rooseve ...

) and a 62% majority among

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

voters, a remarkable margin for a modern Republican candidate. Kean's

coattails The coattail effect or down-ballot effect is the tendency for a popular political party leader to attract votes for other candidates of the same party in an election. For example, in the United States, the party of a victorious presidential cand ...

led the Republicans to win the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

for the first time since the 1971 elections. As of 2022, Kean is the last Republican to win

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

and

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counties in a statewide election and the last candidate of any party to carry every county. Until

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, this was the last election where the winning candidate was of the same party as the sitting President.

Republican primary

Results

Incumbent Governor Thomas Kean was unopposed in the Republican primary election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

* Robert Del Tufo, former

U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey The U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey is the chief federal law enforcement officer in New Jersey. On December 16, 2021, Philip R. Sellinger was sworn in as U.S. Attorney. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has juris ...

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

*Elliot Greenspan, president of the New Jersey chapter of the

National Democratic Policy Committee The U.S. Labor Party (USLP) was a political party formed in 1973 by the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC).

* John F. Russo,

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 Toms River and Senate Majority Leader * Peter Shapiro, Essex County

Executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

and former State Assemblyman *

, former State Senator from Morris Township

Declined

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

Results

General election

Candidates

*George M. Fishman, retired social studies teacher (

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

) *Virginia Flynn, word processor and

Universal Life Church The Universal Life Church (ULC) is a non-denominational religious organization founded in 1962 by Kirby J. Hensley,James R. Lewis, The Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New Religions' (2001), p. 769-70.U.S. Department of the Army, ''Religious Re ...

minister (

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 ...

) *Rodger Headrick, real estate salesman (The True Light) *

Julius Levin Julius "Jules" Levin (3 February 1922 – 16 May 1988) was the last Socialist Labor Party of America candidate for United States President in the 1976 Presidential election; his running mate was Constance Blomen. It was after Levin's poor ...

, apartment manager (

Socialist Labor The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...

) *

, incumbent Governor since 1982 (Republican) *Mark Satinoff, sheet metal worker ( Socialist Workers) * Peter Shapiro, Essex County Executive and former Assemblyman (Democratic)

Campaign

Kean was riding on high popularity ratings from voters on account of the good economic situation of the state in the 1980s including a surplus in the state budget. His efforts to aid depressed cities through Urban Enterprise Zones and reaching out to groups not typically associated with the Republicans including

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s and labor unions led to endorsements from black ministers,

Coretta Scott King Coretta Scott King ( Scott; April 27, 1927 – January 30, 2006) was an American author, activist, and civil rights leader who was married to Martin Luther King Jr. from 1953 until his death. As an advocate for African-American equality, she w ...

, the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

, and ''

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''. Shapiro ran on a platform of reducing

car insurance Vehicle insurance (also known as car insurance, motor insurance, or auto insurance) is insurance for cars, trucks, motorcycles, and other road vehicles. Its primary use is to provide financial protection against physical damage or bodily injury r ...

rates, the state's high property taxes, and improvement of the environment but his struggles of fundraising due to New Jersey being located in two expensive media markets (New York City and

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

) and Kean's momentum left his campaign little-received.

Polling

Results

References

External links

U.S. Election AtlasOctober 28 analysis of the race by Prof. Cliff Zukin of the Eagleton Institute of Politics
{{1985 United States elections

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

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 1985 events in the United States