1925 New Jersey gubernatorial election

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1925 New Jersey gubernatorial election

← 1922 November 3, 1925 1928 →
 
Nominee A. Harry Moore Arthur Whitney
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 471,549 433,121
Percentage 51.87% 47.64%

County results
Moore:      50–60%      70–80%
Whitney:      40–50%      50-60%      60–70%

Governor before election

George Sebastian Silzer
Democratic

Elected Governor

A. Harry Moore
Democratic

The 1925 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1925. Democratic Jersey City Commissioner A. Harry Moore defeated Republican State Senator Arthur Whitney with 51.87% of the vote.

Primary elections were held in June. Whitney defeated former New Jersey Attorney General Thomas F. McCran and judge Cornelius Doremus.

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Republican primary

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Candidates

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Campaign

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McCran had the support of Senator Walter Evans Edge and much of the state party establishment. Whitney was supported by the prohibitionist Anti-Saloon League.[2]

Establishment support for McCran was so strong that the party moved its primary from September to June, apparently to advantage McCran. Nevertheless, Whitney remained confident, expressing, "the Republican voters will repudiate the boss-ridden machine supporting my opponent."[3]

The third candidate in the race, judge Cornelius Doremus, ran as an ardent supporter of Prohibition. Near the end of the campaign, he wrote a public letter to Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Lincoln C. Andrews, congratulating him on his work to disrupt rum smuggling in the Atlantic Ocean.[3]

Whitney accused Doremus, a former Democrat, of trying to draw prohibitionist votes away from his campaign and of being in league with McCran and the state party. On the night before the primary, he declared, "They are in flagrant combination against me."[3]

Fundraising

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Primary campaign finance activity through June 15, 1925
Candidate Raised Spent Cash on hand
Cornelius Doremus $22,720 $18,082.82 $4,637.18
Thomas McCran $17,445 $16,169.17 $1,275.83
Arthur Whitney $49,470 $37,082.18 $12,387.82
Source:[1]

The primary spending limit under the law at the time was $50,000. Senator Edge contributed $5,000 to McCran's campaign, and McCran contributed the same amount himself. Whitney and Doremus contributed the bulk of their own campaign funds, at $42,000 and $19,350 respectively.[1]

Results

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Whitney won the primary by around 27,000 votes over McCran, with Doremus around another 43,000 votes behind McCran's total.[3]

Aftermath

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Thomas McCran died in September.[2]

General election

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Candidates

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  • John C. Butterworth (Socialist Labor)
  • Leo M. Harkins (Socialist)
  • A. Harry Moore, Jersey City Commissioner (Democratic)
  • Eugene A. Smith (Prohibition)
  • George Perlman (Workers)
  • Joseph Ferguson (Commonwealth Land)
  • Arthur Whitney, State Senator for Morris County (Republican)

Campaign

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For the third straight election, the campaign was split between prohibitionist Republicans and anti-Prohibition Democrats,[3] and for the third straight election, the Democratic candidate won.

Results

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New Jersey gubernatorial election, 1925[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic A. Harry Moore 471,549 51.87% –0.32%
Republican Arthur Whitney 433,121 47.64% +0.82%
Socialist Leo M. Harkins 1,956 0.22% –0.47%
Prohibition Eugene A. Smith 1,198 0.13% N/A
Socialist Labor John C. Butterworth 594 0.07% N/A
Independent George Perlman 591 0.07% N/A
Independent Joseph Ferguson 153 0.02% N/A
Total votes 909,162 100.00%
Majority 38,428 4.23% –1.14%
Turnout 909,162 69.47%
Registered electors 1,308,674
Democratic hold Swing –0.57%

Results by county

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County Moore Whitney Others Total Margin
Votes Percent Votes Percent Votes Percent Votes Votes Percent
Atlantic 13,207 41.06% 18,739 58.25% 221 0.69% 32,167 -5,532 -17.19%
Bergen 33,507 42.42% 45,013 56.98% 472 0.60% 78,992 -11,506 -14.56%
Burlington 8,473 37.42% 14,111 62.32% 60 0.26% 22,644 -5,638 -24.90%
Camden 22,525 41.40% 31,431 57.77% 448 0.83% 54,404 -8,906 -16.37%
Cape May 3,311 37.58% 5,470 62.09% 29 0.33% 8,810 -2,159 -26.10%
Cumberland 5,475 33.71% 10,675 65.73% 90 0.56% 16,240 -5,200 -32.02%
Essex 65,158 49.64% 65,449 49.86% 661 0.50% 131,268 -291 -0.22%
Gloucester 5,901 34.54% 11,008 64.42% 178 1.04% 17,087 -5,107 -29.88%
Hudson 152,582 75.54% 48,587 24.05% 828 0.41% 201,997 103,995 51.49%
Hunterdon 5,393 45.50% 6,418 54.14% 43 0.36% 11,854 -1,025 -8.64%
Mercer 19,276 49.22% 19,801 50.56% 88 0.22% 39,165 -525 -1.34%
Middlesex 26,873 52.99% 23,672 46.67% 173 0.34% 50,718 3,201 6.32%
Monmouth 20,390 46.26% 23,618 53.58% 73 0.16% 44,081 -3,228 -7.32%
Morris 12,284 39.41% 18,748 60.14% 137 0.44% 31,169 -6,464 -20.73%
Ocean 4,116 37.79% 6,744 61.92% 31 0.29% 10,891 -2,628 -24.13%
Passaic 28,791 51.66% 26,421 47.41% 517 0.93% 55,729 2,370 4.25%
Salem 3,813 37.37% 6,324 61.99% 65 0.64% 10,202 -2,511 -24.62%
Somerset 6,835 41.73% 9,506 58.03% 40 0.24% 16,381 -2,671 -16.30%
Sussex 4,354 47.20% 4,836 52.43% 34 0.37% 9,224 -482 -5.23%
Union 23,552 43.94% 29,813 55.62% 239 0.44% 53,604 -6,261 -11.68%
Warren 5,733 45.74% 6,737 53.74% 65 0.52% 12,535 -1,004 -8.00%
Total 471,549 51.87% 433,121 47.64% 4,492 0.49% 909,162 38,428 4.23%

References

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  1. ^ a b c "STATE CAMPAIGN EXPENSES.; McCran Spent $16,169, Whitney $37,082 and Doremus $18,082". June 14, 1925. p. E3. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "T. F. M'Cran Dies After Campaign". The New York Times. September 20, 1925. p. E7. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e "THE NEW JERSEY PRIMARY". The New York Times. June 18, 1925. p. 20. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  4. ^ "Votes Cast for the Office of Governor of the State of New Jersey" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1925. Retrieved September 5, 2015.