1989 New Jersey gubernatorial election

See also: 1989 United States gubernatorial elections

The 1989 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1989. Incumbent Republican Governor Thomas Kean was term-limited after two consecutive terms. Democrat James Florio, a U.S. Representative from Camden County and a twice-unsuccessful candidate for Governor, defeated Republican U.S. Representative Jim Courter by the lopsided margin^[1] of 61.2%-37.2%.

1989 New Jersey gubernatorial election

← 1985 November 7, 1989 1993 →

Nominee James Florio Jim Courter Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,379,937 838,553 Percentage 61.2% 37.2%

County results Congressional district results Florio:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Courter:      50–60%

Governor before election Thomas Kean Republican Elected Governor James Florio Democratic

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, Speaker of the Assembly Chuck Hardwick, and State Senators Bill Gormley and Gerald Cardinale. Florio, who had run in 1977 and 1981, won the Democratic nomination with little trouble over Princeton mayor Barbara Boggs Sigmund and former Speaker Alan Karcher.

The Washington Post called the election "one of the most negative gubernatorial campaigns in the state's history".^[2] Democrats also won back the New Jersey General Assembly on Florio's coattails.

Republican primary

Candidates

• Tom Blomquist, retired Coast Guard captain^[3]
• Gerald Cardinale, State Senator from Demarest
• Jim Courter, U.S. Representative from Hackettstown
• W. Cary Edwards, New Jersey Attorney General
• William Gormley, State Senator from Mays Landing
• Chuck Hardwick, Speaker of the General Assembly
• James A. Kolyer, industrial arts teacher^[3]
• Lois Rand, former head of the New Jersey Small Business Administration^[3]

Speaker Hardwick announced his campaign on February 9.^[4]

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, a liberal.^[5] Hardwick, himself a former commuter, also picked a public fight on behalf of New Jersey commuters with Governor of New York Mario Cuomo, attacking New York's income tax on New Jerseyans working in New York City.^[5]

The Hardwick campaign actively sought endorsement from New Jersey Right to Life, the NRA Political Victory Fund, and police officers' groups in an attempt to attract unaffiliated voters into the Republican primary.^[6] 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.^[5]

As the campaign concluded and polls showed Courter narrowly behind, he remained confident of victory.^[7]

Endorsements

List of Jim Courter endorsements

U.S. Representatives

• Dean Gallo, U.S. Representative from Parsippany-Troy Hills^[8]

County officials

• Kathleen Donovan, Bergen County Clerk

List of W. Cary Edwards endorsements

State executive branch officials

• Anthony M. Villane, New Jersey Commissioner of Community Affairs^[9]

State legislators

• Pat Schuber, State Assemblyman from Bogota

Individuals

• John Inganamort, chair of the Bergen County Republican Organization
• Bill Palatucci, campaign manager^[9]

List of Bill Gormley endorsements

Individuals

• George Geist, Camden County Republican Organization chair^[10]

List of Chuck Hardwick endorsements

Individuals

• Jeff Bell, Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 1978

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Gerald Cardinale	Jim Courter	W. Cary Edwards	Bill Gormley	Chuck Hardwick	Undecided
Political Media Research Inc.[10][11]	May 19–22, 1989	415	±5.0%	5%	20%	12%	17%	16%	30%
Political Media Research Inc.[7][11]	May 29–31, 1989		±5.0%	4%	19%	23%	17%	21%	16%

Results

Republican Party primary results^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Jim Courter	112,326	29.02
	Republican	W. Cary Edwards	85,313	22.04
	Republican	Chuck Hardwick	82,392	21.29
	Republican	William Gormley	66,430	17.17
	Republican	Gerald Cardinale	32,250	8.33
	Republican	Tom Blomquist	3,791	0.98
	Republican	Lois Rand	2,553	0.66
	Republican	James A. Kolyer	1,963	0.51
Total votes			387,018	100.00

On primary 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."^[8] 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.^[8]

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."^[9] Hardwick admitted that his campaign had been slipping in internal polling and he had realized he would lose a week before the election.^[13] All of the competitive candidates agreed to support Courter actively in the general election.^[9][13][14]

Democratic primary

Candidates

• James Florio, U.S. Representative and candidate for governor in 1977 and 1981
• Alan Karcher, former Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly
• Barbara Boggs Sigmund, Mayor of Princeton and former Mercer County Freeholder

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Jim Florio	Alan Karcher	Barbara Boggs Sigmund	Undecided
Political Media Research Inc.[11]	May 24, 1989			43%	16%	16%	26%
Political Media Research Inc.[7][11]	May 29–31, 1989		±5.0%	57%	12%	13%	17%

Results

Democratic Party primary results^[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	James Florio	251,979	68.23
	Democratic	Barbara Boggs Sigmund	61,033	16.53
	Democratic	Alan Karcher	56,311	15.25
Total votes			369,323	100.00

General election

Candidates

• Jim Courter, U.S. Representative from Hackettstown (Republican)
• James Florio, U.S. Representative from Camden and nominee for governor in 1981 (Democratic)
• Tom Fuscaldo, owner of a television antenna business (One Eye On)^[15]
• Daniel M. Karlan, computer programmer (Libertarian)^[15]
• Catherine Renee Sedwick (Socialist Workers)^[15]
• Michael Ziruolo, trucking consultant (Better Affordable Government)^[15]

Campaign

Florio, who had run in the Democratic primary for Governor in 1977 and had lost an extremely close general election in 1981 to Thomas Kean, stressed in this campaign that he would govern more like Kean than the conservative Courter would. Florio also contended that he would lead an active government to combat potential overdevelopment and pollution.^[16] To moderate his positions, Florio promised a wider use of the state death penalty for drug crimes.^[17][18] Florio also said: "You can write this statement down: 'Florio feels there is no need for new taxes'".^[19] (Florio broke the latter promise in 1990, when he signed a $2.8-billion tax increase.^[18])

Following a Supreme Court ruling that would allow states to impose regulations on abortions, Courter—who had an anti-abortion voting record in Congress—sought to moderate his position, causing voters to distrust him.^[20][21]

The campaign was notable for its negativity. In September, Florio released a televised attack ad contending that Courter had failed "to clean up toxic wastes on his own property". Courter challenged that assertion and accused Florio of taking campaign donations from a union with mob ties. According to The New York Times, "both candidates aired their own 'Pinocchio' spots accusing the other of lying on various issues". In their first debate, Courter called himself an environmentalist; Florio responded, 'Cut me a break'".^[2]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Jim Florio (D)	Jim Courter (R)	Undecided
Star-Ledger/Eagleton[22]	June 12–20, 1989	647 RV	±4.0%	49%	32%	17%
Star-Ledger/Eagleton[22]	September 20–28, 1989	707 LV	±3.8%	53%	30%	17%
Star-Ledger/Eagleton[22]	October 12–19, 1989	727 LV	±3.8%	49%	32%	19%
Star-Ledger/Eagleton[22]	Oct. 29–Nov. 2, 1989	989 LV	±3.2%	54%	28%	18%
		632 PV	±4.0%	54%	30%	16%

Results

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.

New Jersey Gubernatorial Election, 1989^[23]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	James Florio	1,379,937	61.23%	31.91
	Republican	Jim Courter	838,553	37.21%	32.37
	Libertarian	Daniel M. Karlan	11,878	0.53%	0.29
	Independent	Michael Ziruolo	10,210	0.45%	N/A
	Independent	Tom Fuscaldo	6,989	0.31%	N/A
	Socialist Workers	Catherine Renee Sedwick	6,197	0.28%	0.09
Majority			541,384	24.02%
Turnout			2,253,764
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

References

1. Depalma, Anthony (March 3, 1990). "Courter Won't Run for House Again". The New York Times.
2. Balz, Dan (November 8, 1989). "Florio Wins in New Jersey". Washington Post.
3. Saffron, Inga (May 16, 1989). "With Tough Odds, 3 Gop Hopefuls Rely On Ideas Instead Of Connections". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on September 14, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
4. "Hardwick to Run for Jersey Governor". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 9, 2015. Retrieved January 9, 2015.
5. Kerr, Peter (March 17, 1989). "Jersey Speaker Sprints for Governor's Job". The New York Times. Archived from the original on July 5, 2014. Retrieved January 9, 2015.(subscription required)
6. Sullivan, Joseph F. (June 1, 1989). "Hardwick Stalks the Voters, Aiming for the Uncommitted". The New York Times.
7. Kerr, Peter (June 3, 1989). "G.O.P. Race Nears Finish, And Courter Is Confident". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 9, 2015. Retrieved January 9, 2015.(subscription required)
8. Kelly, Audrey (June 7, 1989). "Caution gives way to elation at Courter camp". The Central New Jersey Home News. p. 6. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
9. Reisner, Neil (June 7, 1989). "Dreams of victory fade for Edwards". The Central New Jersey Home News. p. 6. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
10. Johnston, Jay (May 25, 1989). "Poll finds GOP in dead heat". Asbury Park Press. p. 1. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
11. Conohan, Sherry (June 2, 1989). "Edwards moves ahead in GOP race, poll says". Asbury Park Press. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
12. "Candidates for the Office of Governor - State of New Jersey - Primary Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1989. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
13. Hester, Tom (June 7, 1989). "Hardwick remembers the moment he knew victory was not to be". The Central New Jersey Home News. p. 6. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
14. "Gormley heartened despite losing out to Courter". The Central New Jersey Home News. June 7, 1989. p. 6. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
15. Sullivan, Joseph F. (November 5, 1989). "4 Who Say They Are New Jersey Alternatives". The New York Times. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
16. Kerr, Peter (November 8, 1993). "THE 1989 ELECTIONS: Governor-Elect MAN IN THE NEWS: James Joseph Florio; Careful and Determined". The New York Times. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
17. Paolantonia, S. A. (June 7, 1989). "Top N.J. Race To Match Florio And Courter". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on January 2, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
18. Brownstein, Ronald (November 1, 1993). "Voters Seem Dissatisfied, Uncertain on Election Eve : Campaigns: Gubernatorial, mayoral posts at stake. No sweeping winds of change gauged in off-year races". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
19. Kelly, Mike (May 11, 2018). "Former NJ Gov. Jim Florio's message to Gov. Phil Murphy on raising taxes: Just do it". NorthJersey.com.
20. Apple, Jr., R. W. (November 9, 1989). "The 1989 Elections: The Abortion Question Backlash at the Polls; Major Setbacks Prompt G.O.P. Debate About Lessons for Future Candidates". The New York Times. Retrieved June 16, 2015.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
21. Paolantonia, S. A. (October 4, 1989). "Statewide Poll Shows Abortion Issue Hurting Courter". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
22. Star-Ledger/Eagleton
23. "Candidates for the Office of Governor – State of New Jersey -- General Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1989. Retrieved June 16, 2015.

External links

• U.S. Election Atlas