1969 New Jersey gubernatorial election

1969 New Jersey gubernatorial election
November 4, 1969
 
Nominee William T. Cahill Robert B. Meyner
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote 1,411,905 911,003
Percentage 59.7% 38.5%
County results
Cahill:      50–60%      60–70%
Meyner:      50–60%
Governor before election

Richard J. Hughes
Democratic

Elected Governor

William T. Cahill
Republican

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The 1969 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1969. Republican nominee William T. Cahill defeated Democratic nominee Robert B. Meyner with 59.66% of the vote. This was the only gubernatorial election that Republicans won between 1949 and 1981.

Primary elections were held on June 3.[1] Turnout in the primary was approximately 24 percent of the registered voter population.[2] Cahill won the Republican nomination narrowly over fellow South Jersey Congressman Charles W. Sandman Jr., while Meyner finished with nearly twice the vote of his closest competitor, state senator William F. Kelly of Hudson County.

This is the first gubernatorial election in which a Republican won Hudson County.

Background

Entering the 1969 campaign, New Jersey was seen as a swing state with a moderate Republican lean. President Richard Nixon had narrowly carried the state over Hubert H. Humphrey in the presidential election the prior year. However, the state had not elected a Republican governor since 1949. Robert B. Meyner (1954–62) and Richard J. Hughes (1962–70) had each been elected to the maximum of two consecutive terms; Hughes was constitutionally prohibited from running for a third term in office in 1969.

In 1967, Republicans made major gains in the legislative midterm, winning veto-proof majorities in the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Campaign

The Democratic primary was a battleground for multiple political forces within the party. Meyner ran as an opponent of the Hudson County machine with the backing of most of the party establishment and critics of the Hudson machine, as he had in 1953. Hudson, led by John V. Kenny as the successor to Frank Hague, supported their native son, state senator William F. Kelly. In addition to the geographic dynamic, congressman Henry Helstoski joined the campaign at the eleventh hour, filing just thirty minutes before the deadline as the candidate of the New Democratic Coalition, a liberal reformist organization opposed to American involvement in the Vietnam War and founded by supporters of Eugene McCarthy and Robert F. Kennedy. Helstoski offered another alternative to the Hudson County machine for liberal dissatisfied with Meyner's relatively conservative record as governor. Ned Parsekian also ran as a liberal without party support, focusing on his opposition to organized crime and corruption by government officials. Finally, D. Louis Tonti ran with the support of the state's large ethnic Italian community, the biggest ethnic voting bloc in the state at the time and whose backing was generally regarded as vital for primary and general elections.[2]

Kelly spent significant sums on television commercials and newspaper advertisements, leading establishment politicians in the legislature to take him seriously at the chief opponent to Meyner.[2] Each of the challengers charged that Meyner was a "political retread" and had a number of conflicts of interest that would prevent him from serving as governor.[2]

Results

Meyner ultimately won an easy victory over his opposition, which was taken as a victory for the party establishment over the Hudson County machine and liberal wing of the party.[2] At his campaign headquarters, Meyner questioned a remark that his nomination represented a political "comeback".[2]

Democratic Party primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Robert B. Meyner 173,801 44.77
Democratic William F. Kelly 87,888 22.64
Democratic Henry Helstoski 60,483 15.58
Democratic D. Louis Tonti 34,810 8.97
Democratic Ned J. Parsekian 24,908 6.42
Democratic John L. Hennessey 6,302 1.62
Total votes 388,192 100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Campaign

Charles Sandman, who had narrowly lost the 1965 Republican primary to Wayne Dumont Jr., was initially considered the prohibitive favorite for the nomination as the lone conservative in a field with four moderate or liberal candidates who had never run for statewide office. His policy proposals dominated the debate, including a pledge not to initiate a state income tax and promises to crack down on street crime and campus protests.[2]

Late in the campaign, however, Cahill consolidated support from the moderate wing of the party led by U.S. Senator Clifford P. Case. Both Sandman and Cahill were accused of owning property encumbered by racially restrictive covenants, generating commotion among moderates.[2]

Results

Republican primary results[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican William T. Cahill 158,980 39.31
Republican Charles W. Sandman Jr. 144,877 35.83
Republican Harry L. Sears 46,778 11.57
Republican Frank X. McDermott 35,503 8.78
Republican William E. Ozzard 18,262 4.52
Total votes 404,400 100.00

General election

Candidates

  • William T. Cahill, U.S. Representative from Collingswood (Republican)
  • Robert B. Meyner, former Governor of New Jersey (Democratic)
  • James E. Johnson (Independent)
  • Jack D. Alvino (Independent)
  • Winifred O. Perry (Conservative)
  • Louis Vanderplate (Independent)
  • Jules Levin, perennial candidate (Socialist Labor)

Results

New Jersey gubernatorial election, 1969[5]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican William T. Cahill 1,411,905 59.66% 18.58
Democratic Robert B. Meyner 911,003 38.49% 18.90
Independent James E. Johnson 10,725 0.45% N/A
Independent Jack D. Alvino 10,149 0.43% N/A
Conservative Winifred O. Perry 10,128 0.43% 0.47
Independent Louis Vanderplate 6,611 0.28% N/A
Socialist Labor Julius Levin 6,085 0.26% 0.05
Total votes 2,366,606 100.00%
Republican gain from Democratic Swing {{{swing}}}

By county

County Cahill % Cahill votes Meyner % Meyner votes Other % Other votes
Atlantic 60.1% 37,662 36.7% 23,004 3.2% 2,030
Bergen 62.8% 218,908 35.7% 124,304 1.6% 5,458
Burlington 60.9% 48,240 37.9% 30,005 1.2% 933
Camden 65.9% 95,170 33.0% 47,667 1.1% 1,477
Cape May 63.6% 14,532 35.2% 8,050 1.3% 274
Cumberland 59.6% 21,348 40.0% 14,340 0.4% 143
Essex 51.8% 147,188 46.2% 131,479 2.1% 5,681
Gloucester 62.7% 35,255 36.4% 20,446 0.9% 511
Hudson 56.8% 116,066 41.8% 85,379 1.5% 3,018
Hunterdon 68.6% 15,830 30.5% 7,047 0.9% 209
Mercer 51.3% 52,041 46.7% 47,421 1.9% 1,995
Middlesex 59.7% 114,446 38.2% 73,171 2.1% 4,011
Monmouth 64.5% 89,957 34.0% 47,407 1.4% 2,003
Morris 67.0% 84,144 31.5% 38,613 1.6% 1,843
Ocean 69.1% 48,076 28.9% 20,085 2.1% 1,415
Passaic 55.1% 81,079 42.0% 61,816 2.9% 4,320
Salem 60.9% 13,182 38.8% 8,389 0.4% 72
Somerset 68.8% 45,348 28.7% 18,905 2.4% 1,653
Sussex 65.7% 16,275 31.5% 7,800 2.8% 704
Union 55.0% 107,997 42.1% 82,618 2.9% 5,785
Warren 45.8% 11,161 53.6% 13,057 0.6% 163

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

References

  1. ^ a b c "Results of the Primary Election Held June 3, 1969" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1969. Retrieved June 12, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Sullivan, Ronald (June 4, 1969). "Meyner and Cahill Victors In Jersey Primary Races; Democrat Easily Defeats Five Rivals for Gubernatorial Nomination -- Sandman 2d in G.O.P. Voting". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
  3. ^ "Who's Hennessey?". The Record. May 9, 1969. p. 18. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  4. ^ "Tonti is a Winner—At the Races". Asbury Park Press. June 1, 1969. p. 3. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  5. ^ "Votes Cast for the Office of Governor of the State of New Jersey" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1969. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
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