1985 New Jersey gubernatorial election


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. Until 2025, Kean had the largest margin in raw votes, but still has the largest percentage margin in all New Jersey gubernatorial elections to date. 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 and a 62% majority among African-American voters, 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. 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.

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

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

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declined

  • James Florio, U.S. Representative from Camden and [1981 New Jersey gubernatorial election|nominee for Governor of New Jersey|Governor in 1981]

General election

Candidates

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 Americans and labor unions led to endorsements from black ministers, Coretta Scott King, the AFL–CIO, and The New York Times.
Shapiro ran on a platform of reducing car insurance 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 and Kean's momentum left his campaign little-received.

Results

By county

CountyKean %Kean votesShapiro %Shapiro votesOther %Other votes
Atlantic69.1%38,47729.8%16,6111.1%608
Bergen71.5%181,23827.8%70,5250.6%1,554
Burlington68.7%56,57330.5%25,0780.9%696
Camden60.9%70,37438.1%43,9600.9%1,173
Cape May74.7%23,33124.5%7,6650.8%239
Cumberland66.4%21,01731.8%10,0651.8%570
Essex66.9%121,68531.2%56,6941.8%3,383
Gloucester63.6%35,42435.3%19,6621.2%640
Hudson65.1%88,16534.1%46,1950.8%1,160
Hunterdon75.4%17,87522.7%5,3881.9%453
Mercer63.2%53,56235.6%30,2121.2%994
Middlesex65.8%113,02033.1%56,8151.0%1,804
Monmouth72.9%109,23826.4%39,5290.7%1,084
Morris78.4%85,18921.0%22,8470.4%566
Ocean73.7%90,67025.1%30,9481.2%1,455
Passaic69.8%70,89628.8%29,2631.4%1,429
Salem64.9%12,37633.7%6,4171.4%270
Somerset75.6%44,50223.1%13,6011.3%761
Sussex77.7%22,10921.1%5,9981.2%346
Union73.3%102,41125.1%35,0601.5%2,187
Warren70.4%14,49928.5%5,8691.0%219

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican