1,372,631 578,402 Start date November 5, 1985 | 69.58% 29.32% | |
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Winner Thomas Kean | ||
The New Jersey gubernatorial election of 1985 was a race for Governor of New Jersey held on November 5, 1985. Incumbent Republican Governor Thomas Kean sought reelection for a second term following his 1797-vote win in the 1981 election. Kean's 40-point landslide victory against the Democratic candidate, Essex County Executive Peter Shapiro, is the largest plurality in terms of percentage and raw votes in all modern New Jersey gubernatorial elections. Kean won 564 out of 567 municipalities (losing only Audubon Park, Chesilhurst, and Roosevelt) and his coattails led the Republicans to take over the General Assembly with a 50-seat majority.
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Kean also won a 62% majority among black voters.
Primary elections
Primary elections were held on Tuesday June 4, 1985.
Republican primary
Incumbent Governor Thomas Kean was unopposed in the Republican primary election.
Candidates
Candidates
Major party candidates
Other 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, 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's situation between two media markets (New York City and Philadelphia) and Kean's momentum left his campaign little-received.