1985 New Jersey gubernatorial election information
See also: 1985 United States gubernatorial elections
1985 New Jersey gubernatorial election
← 1981
November 5, 1985
1989 →
Nominee
Thomas Kean
Peter Shapiro
Party
Republican
Democratic
Popular vote
1,372,631
578,402
Percentage
69.6%
29.3%
County results
Congressional district results[a]
Municipality Results
Kean: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Governor before election
Thomas Kean
Republican
Elected Governor
Thomas Kean
Republican
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v
t
e
The 1985 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 1985. Incumbent Republican Governor Thomas Kean won a landslide re-election against the Democratic candidate, Essex County Executive Peter Shapiro. As of 2024, Kean's is the largest margin in terms of percentage and raw votes in all New Jersey gubernatorial elections.[1] Kean was the first Republican to be re-elected governor since 1949, and the first Republican to ever win two four-year terms.
Primary elections 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. Stephen B. Wiley 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 (all except Audubon Park, Chesilhurst, and Roosevelt)[2] and a 62% majority among African-American voters,[3] a remarkable margin for a modern Republican candidate. Kean's coattails led the Republicans to win the General Assembly for the first time since the 1971 elections.[4] To date, Kean is the last Republican to win Essex and Hudson counties in a statewide election and the last candidate of any party to carry every county. Until 2021, this was the last election where the winning candidate was of the same party as the sitting President.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
^O'Neill, Erin (November 29, 2012). "Raymond Bateman says Tom Kean won the 1985 gubernatorial election by largest margin in state's history". PolitiFact New Jersey. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
^Hanley, Robert (November 15, 1999). "Reality Catches Up to a Utopian Legacy; A New Jersey Oasis Debates High Taxes and Suburban Growth". The New York Times. Retrieved June 16, 2015. When Gov. Thomas H. Kean, a Republican, ran for re-election in 1985, he won by a landslide, with 564 of the state's 567 towns. Roosevelt was one of the three that voted against him. (The others were two tiny boroughs in Camden County: Audubon Park and Chesilhurst.)
^Stone, Roger (September 30, 1989). "How the G.O.P. Can Nail Down the Black Vote". The New York Times. Retrieved August 30, 2016.
^Reilly, Matthew (November 5, 1985). "Republican Gov. Thomas Kean, winner four years ago of..." United Press International. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
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