The 1997 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 4, 1997. In the Democratic primary, state senator and Woodbridge Township mayor Jim McGreevey defeated U.S. Representative Rob Andrews by 9,993 votes. In the general election, Republican Governor Christine Todd Whitman defeated McGreevey by 26,953 votes. Whitman won 46.87% of the vote, with McGreevey receiving 45.82% and Libertarian Murray Sabrin receiving 4.7%.
Republican primary
Candidates
- Christine Todd Whitman, incumbent Governor of New Jersey
Democratic primary
Candidates
- Jim McGreevey, mayor of Woodbridge and state senator
- Rob Andrews, U.S. Representative from Haddon Heights
- Michael Murphy, Morris County Prosecutor and stepson of former governor Richard J. Hughes
- Frank C. Marmo, perennial candidate
General election
Candidates
- Madelyn R. Hoffman, Flanders grassroots activist (Green)
- James McGreevey, state senator and mayor of Woodbridge (Democratic)
- Robert B. Miller, Newark assembly line worker (Socialist Workers)
- Lincoln Norton, Morristown software executive (Natural Law)
- Greg Pason, Hackensack small businessman (Socialist)
- Michael Perrone Jr., Little Ferry liquor store owner (Progressive)
- Richard J. Pezzullo, Freehold computer consultant (Conservative)
- Nuncie A. Ripa Jr., Hammonton excavation contractor (Independent)
- Murray Sabrin, Ramapo College professor (Libertarian)
- Christine Todd Whitman, incumbent governor since 1994 (Republican)
Campaign
In June, a 60-second radio ad paid for by the New Jersey Republican Party focused on the 30% income tax cut and 180,000 new jobs. Whitman's ads blamed McGreevey for the state's auto insurance rates. The Whitman campaign emphasized the drops in unemployment, violent crime and welfare rolls during her term. Other ads took aim at McGreevey's record on taxes, particularly his support for former Gov. Jim Florio's (D) tax increase. The RNC criticized former Gov. Jim Florio (D) in an ad October, calling his 1990 tax increase a result of electing "liberal Democrats".
In September, McGreevey unveiled two TV ads criticizing Whitman and focusing on property taxes, auto insurance rates, pension bond debts, and education standards. The Democratic National Committee also spent $1 million during the home stretch of the campaign on television ads for Democratic candidates statewide. In October, a poll found that voters of NJ called auto insurance the most important issue in the campaign, and property taxes second.
Results
This was the first gubernatorial election in the state since 1949 where a Republican won without Passaic County.
Results by county
Source:
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
- Burlington
- Mercer
- Passaic