The 2001 New Jersey gubernatorial election was a race for the

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 ...

. It was held on November 6, 2001. Primaries took place on June 25. Democratic nominee

Jim McGreevey James Edward McGreevey (born August 6, 1957) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 52nd governor of New Jersey from 2002 until his resignation in 2004 following the revelation of his extramarital affair w ...

won the general election with 56% of the vote — the first majority-elected governor since

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 ...

in 1989. His Republican opponent in that race was Bret Schundler. This is also the most recent statewide election in which the Democrat won

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

and

Ocean The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...

Counties. McGreevey resigned in November 2004 after admitting that he was a gay man and ethical issues surrounding his governorship; he was succeeded by Senate President Richard Codey, who filled the remainder of McGreevey's term until January 2006.

Democratic primary

Candidates

, Mayor of Woodbridge, former state senator and nominee for governor in

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

*Elliot Greenspan, LaRouche activist

Withdrew

Robert Torricelli Robert Guy Torricelli (born August 27, 1951), is an American attorney and former politician. A Democrat, Torricelli served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 9th district from 1983 to 1997 and as a United States s ...

, U.S. Senator since 1997 (withdrew August 1, 2000)

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

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 Nor ...

, former U.S. Representative from

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2000 * Bret Schundler, Mayor of

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Donald DiFrancesco Donald Thomas DiFrancesco (born November 20, 1944) is a retired American politician who served as the 51st governor of New Jersey from 2001 to 2002. He succeeded Christine Todd Whitman after her resignation to become Administrator of the Enviro ...

, President of the New Jersey Senate and acting Governor

Declined

* Jack Collins, Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly since 1996

Campaign

Towards the end of his tenure as mayor, Schundler served as chairman of the Hudson County Republican Committee, and in 2001, Schundler won the Republican gubernatorial nomination, facing former Congressman

, a considerably more moderate Republican who was favored by the party establishment. Franks entered the race in April, two months before the primary, after Gov.

Donald DiFrancesco Donald Thomas DiFrancesco (born November 20, 1944) is a retired American politician who served as the 51st governor of New Jersey from 2001 to 2002. He succeeded Christine Todd Whitman after her resignation to become Administrator of the Enviro ...

dropped out of the race because of an unending series of newspaper stories highlighting ethics concerns. He was backed by Gov. DiFrancesco's political organization and endorsed by every county Republican committee except Schundler's base in Hudson County. Schundler employed a more grassroots style of campaigning, visiting many local GOP organizations and forming close relationships with the

Young Republicans The Young Republican National Federation, commonly referred to as the Young Republicans or YRNF, is a 527 organization for members of the Republican Party of the United States between the ages of 18 and 40. It has both a national organization ...

and the

College Republicans College Republicans are college and university students who support the Republican Party of the United States. Many members belong to the organization College Republican National Committee (CRNC), College Republicans United (CRU), or various in ...

, as well as with conservative groups, including those active in

homeschooling Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

issues. The grassroots support he built up enabled him to win the nomination by a robust 15-point margin.

Results

General election

Candidates

*Jerry Coleman (Green) *Mark Edgerton (Libertarian) *Michael Koontz (Conservative) * James McGreevey (Democratic) *Costantino Rozzo (Socialist) *

William E. Schluter William Everett Schluter (November 5, 1927 – August 6, 2018) was an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey, who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature in two separate instances. Early life and career Schluter was bo ...

(Independent) * Bret Schundler (Republican) *Kari Sachs (Socialist Workers)

Campaign

After winning the primary, Schundler tried to reunite the party by reaching out to the figures who had endorsed Franks. This included having a unity lunch with Franks which was hosted by former Gov.

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, ...

, and retaining New Jersey State Senator

Joe Kyrillos Joseph M. Kyrillos Jr. (born April 12, 1960) is an American Republican Party politician and businessman from New Jersey. Kyrillos served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1992 to 2018, where he represented the 13th Legislative District, and i ...

as state party chairman. Kyrillos had been appointed by DiFrancesco as state party chairman six weeks before the primary, and he had supported Franks in the primary. However, the party remained split. Jim McGreevey, the Democratic candidate, exploited this division by painting Schundler as too conservative for New Jersey.

Polling

Results

;Results by county

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Atlantic 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 an ...

(largest municipality:

Egg Harbor Township Egg Harbor Township is a township in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The U.S. Census Bureau in the 2020 census reported the population as 47,842, an increase of 4,519 over the 43,323 counted in the previous decade in the 201 ...

) *

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

(largest municipality: Hackensack) *

(largest municipality: Middletown Township) *

(largest municipality: Lakewood) * Salem (largest municipality: Pennsville Township)

Notes

References

Official campaign websites
Jim McGreevey (D) for Governor

Bret Schundler (R) for Governor
{{United States elections, 2001

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

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 2001 events in the United States