1990 United States Senate election in New Jersey

The 1990 New Jersey United States Senate election was held on November 6, 1990, to select the Class 2 U.S. Senator from the state of New Jersey. Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Bradley decided to seek re-election and narrowly edged out little-known Republican Christine Todd Whitman.[1]

1990 United States Senate election in New Jersey

← 1984 November 6, 1990 1996 →
 
Nominee Bill Bradley Christine Todd Whitman
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 977,810 918,874
Percentage 50.44% 47.40%

Bradley:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      80–90%
Whitman:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

U.S. senator before election

Bill Bradley
Democratic

Elected U.S. Senator

Bill Bradley
Democratic

Democratic primary

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Candidates

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Results

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1990 Democratic U.S. Senate primary[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Bill Bradley (incumbent) 197,454 92.38%
Democratic Daniel Z. Seyler 16,287 7.62%
Total votes 213,741 100.00%

Republican primary

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Candidates

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Declined

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Campaign

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The New Jersey Republican Party struggled to recruit a candidate to oppose Bradley, a widely popular incumbent with financial resources in a state that had not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972,[4] although incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush had carried the state by a wide margin in 1988 and remained highly popular.[4] The two most commonly mentioned candidates were Christine Todd Whitman, the president of the state board of public utilities, and State Senator Leanna Brown, who had raised her profile through her involvement in Jim Courter's 1989 gubernatorial campaign. Brown removed herself from consideration on February 24, leaving Whitman as the likely nominee.[3]

Bradley was expected to outspend the Republican nominee four-to-one and even Whitman admitted that the goal of the Republican campaign was not winning, but rather "show[ing] there are good credible candidates... to show there is life after Tom Kean."[5] Whitman, the daughter of former party chair Webster B. Todd, resigned from the public utilities board on March 5 and announced she would face Bradley with the support of the state party on March 13. In doing so, Whitman passed up the opportunity to run for an open U.S. House seat vacated by Jim Courter.[4] Acknowledging the uphill battle Whitman faced, Somerset party chair Jack Penn compared her odds to those of Buster Douglas, a 42:1 underdog who had knocked out Mike Tyson one month earlier.[4]

Results

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1990 Republican U.S. Senate primary[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Christine Todd Whitman 112,214 100.00%
Total votes 112,214 100.00%

General election

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Candidates

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Campaign

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U.S. Senator Bill Bradley didn't realize he was in danger of losing re-election and the New Jersey voters' anger over taxes and economy until the week prior to the election.

In the early part of the campaign, Bradley already had a major image problem; he was comfortably ahead in the polls, so his staffers told him to play it safe. He aired television advertisements of himself walking on the beach, shooting a perfect shot on the court, and sitting back in his office with his basketball shoes on his desk. The advertisements backfired as voters were turned off and thought that he wasn't taking his job seriously, especially at a time when voters were suffering.[citation needed]

Another major problem with Bradley was how Democratic Governor Jim Florio implemented a $2.8 billion tax increase, hurting the state's economy. In addition, Bradley refused to answer questions pertaining to Florio's tax policies.[citation needed]

After Bradley realized he was in trouble, he released negative advertisements attacking Whitman's own record on taxes, accusing her of favoring tax increases when she was a Somerset County Freeholder. Bradley's image may have been further damaged by his newer advertisements.[6]

Polling

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Poll source Date(s)
administered
Sample
size[b]
Margin
of error
Bill
Bradley (D)
Christine
Whitman (R)
Other/
Undecided
Rutgers-Eagleton[7] July 2–10, 1990 616 LV ±4.0% 64% 17% 19%
Rutgers-Eagleton[7] Sep. 24–Oct. 2, 1990 613 LV ±4.0% 56% 26% 18%
Rutgers-Eagleton[7] October 16–22, 1990 532 LV ±4.5% 62% 26% 12%
Rutgers-Eagleton[7] October 27–31, 1990 987 LV ±3.2% 55% 27% 18%
466 PV ±4.5% 50% 33% 17%
  1. ^ Only top two candidates
  2. ^ Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    PV – "probable" voters

Results

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1990 United States Senate election in New Jersey
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Bill Bradley (incumbent) 977,810 50.44%
Republican Christine Todd Whitman 918,874 47.40%
Populist John Kucek 19,978 1.0%
Libertarian Louis Stefanelli 13,988 0.7%
Socialist Workers Don Mackle 7,804 0.4%
Total votes 1,938,454 100.0%
Democratic hold

Results by County

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County Bradley votes Bradley % Whitman votes Whitman % Other votes Other %
Atlantic 27.905 58.08% 19,481 40.54% 662 1.38%
Bergen 121,020 49.24% 121,600 49.47% 3,180 1.29%
Burlington 46,912 49.33% 46,287 48.67% 1,901 2.00%
Camden 72,328 56.78% 52,790 41.44% 2,263 1.78%
Cape May 16,627 54.11% 13,528 44.02% 573 1.86%
Cumberland 18,186 56.82% 12,765 39.89% 1,053 3.29%
Essex 93,052 61.09% 56,722 37.24% 2,539 1.67%
Gloucester 35,379 57.01% 25,374 40.89% 1,307 2.11%
Hudson 65,242 65.62% 32,311 32.50% 1,877 1.89%
Hunterdon 10,849 36.11% 18,309 60.94% 886 2.95%
Mercer 45,036 52.28% 39,570 45.94% 1,535 1.78%
Middlesex 80,080 49.49% 77,165 47.69% 4,553 2.81%
Monmouth 74,934 47.62% 80,126 50.92% 2,298 1.46%
Morris 46.928 40.71% 66,369 57.57% 1,983 1.72%
Ocean 54,714 39.90% 76,948 56.12% 5,547 3.98%
Passaic 46.58% 40,312 43,867 50.69% 2,357 2.72%
Salem 10,086 53.99% 7,999 42.82% 596 3.19%
Somerset 27,508 40.30% 38,426 56.30% 2,320 3.40%
Sussex 12.814 38.45% 19,789 59.37% 726 2.18%
Union 66,716 52.11% 57,628 45.38% 3,184 2.51%
Warren 11,722 48.72% 11,820 49.12% 520 2.16%

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Dendy, Dallas L. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 1990" (PDF).
  2. ^ a b "United States Senate - Primary Election, June 5, 1990" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Elections.
  3. ^ a b O'Dea, Colleen (February 24, 1990). "Brown decides against a run for U.S. Senate". Daily Record. p. 3. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d Hester, Tom (March 13, 1990). "GOP'S Whitman to Face Sen. Bradley". Central Jersey Home News. p. 3. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  5. ^ Serrill, Ted (February 25, 1990). "BPU's Whitman considers challenging Bradley". Central Jersey Home News. p. 13. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
  6. ^ King, Wayne (November 8, 1990). "THE 1990 ELECTIONS: What Went Wrong?; Bradley Says He Sensed Voter Fury but It Was Too Late to do Anything". The New York Times.
  7. ^ a b c d Rutgers-Eagleton