1860 United States presidential election in New Jersey

The 1860 United States presidential election in New Jersey took place on 6 November 1860, as part of the 1860 United States presidential election. Voters in New Jersey chose seven electors of the Electoral College, who voted for President and Vice President. New Jersey voters voted for each elector individually, and thus could split their votes. All seven electors were chosen in a single at-large election. That is, each voter voted for up to seven candidates, and the seven candidates with highest vote counts were elected.

1860 United States presidential election in New Jersey

← 1856 November 6, 1860 1864 →
 
Nominee Abraham Lincoln
Party Republican Fusion
Alliance Democratic
Southern Democratic
Constitutional Union
Home state Illinois
Running mate Hannibal Hamlin
Electoral vote 4[1] 3[a]
Popular vote 58,345 62,801
Percentage 48.13% 51.87%

County Results

President before election

James Buchanan
Democratic

Elected President

Abraham Lincoln
Republican

Results

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1860 United States presidential election in New Jersey[2]
Party Candidate elector Votes
Republican J. C. Hornblower 58,345
Republican Edward W. Ivins 58,341
Republican George H. Brown 58,335
Republican Charles E. Elmer 58,334
Republican Isaac W. Scudder 58,323
Republican David Thompson 58,322
Republican Andrew K. Hay 58,315
Fusion William Cook 62,801
Fusion Joel Parker 62,387
Fusion Theodore Runyon 62,309
Fusion Peter D. Vroom 58,210
Fusion Edmund Brewer 57,801
Fusion Silas Condit 57,553
Fusion Alexander Wurts 56,182

Results By County

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1860 United States Presidential Election in New Jersey (By County)[3][4]
County Stephen A. Douglas/

John C. Breckinridge/

John Bell

Fusion

Abraham Lincoln

Republican

Total Votes Cast
# % # %
Atlantic 794 41.72% 1,109 58.28% 1,903
Bergen 2,092 59.01% 1,453 40.99% 3,545
Burlington 4,036 43.37% 5,269 56.63% 9,305
Camden 2,643 51.56% 2,483 48.44% 5,126
Cape May 520 43.33% 680 56.67% 1,200
Cumberland 1,630 41.42% 2,305 58.58% 3,935
Essex 9,711 52.43% 8,812 47.57% 18,523
Gloucester 1,476 43.04% 1,953 56.96% 3,429
Hudson 5,150 59.60% 3,491 40.40% 8,641
Hunterdon 3,934 58.19% 2,827 41.81% 6,761
Mercer 3,423 48.22% 3,675 51.78% 7,098
Middlesex 3,605 55.22% 2,924 44.78% 6,529
Monmouth 3,312 48.73% 3,484 51.27% 6,796
Morris 4,089 56.91% 3,096 43.09% 7,185
Ocean 701 33.40% 1,398 66.60% 2,099
Passaic 2,415 46.18% 2,814 53.82% 5,229
Salem 1,973 46.99% 2,226 53.01% 4,199
Somerset 2,297 53.72% 1,979 46.28% 4,276
Sussex 3,087 63.58% 1,768 36.42% 4,855
Union 2,756 55.64% 2,197 44.36% 4,953
Warren 3,225 57.32% 2,401 42.68% 5,626
Total 62,869 51.87% 58,344 48.13% 121,213

Analysis

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The state's seven electoral votes were split, with Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln getting four, while Democrat Stephen A. Douglas won 3. That was because the Democratic electors were part of a fusion ticket between the regular Democrats, supporting Douglas, breakaway Democrats, supporting John C. Breckinridge, and the Constitutional Union Party, former Whigs supporting John Bell.

The fusion ticket was formed because none of the three factions thought that it could defeat the Republicans separately, but their combined votes could do so, and then, each group would get some electoral votes. Several different slates were proposed. The final fusion ticket consisted of three electors pledged to Douglas, two pledged to Breckinridge, and two pledged to Bell.[5]

However, many Douglas Democrats resented the concession to the Breckinridge and Bell factions and believed that the Breckinridge and Bell voters were much fewer and that Douglas could carry the state if all opponents of Lincoln supported him. That group formed a slate of seven Douglas Democrats, which included the three on the fusion ticket.[5]

At the time, election authorities did not issue pre-printed ballots with all candidates' names, to be marked by voters. Instead, each voter wrote his votes down on a piece of paper or used a pre-printed ballot distributed by a political party or faction that had only the names of that group's candidates. The voter could modify a pre-printed ballot by crossing off or writing over one or more of the printed names. The state Democrats issued a pre-printed ballot with the seven fusion candidates; the dissident Democrats issued a ballot with the all-Douglas slate.

In the election, about 58,200 fusion ticket ballots were cast, about 4,600 straight-Democrat ballots, and about 58,300 Republican ballots.[2] The exact numbers cannot be determined, as some voters altered their pre-printed ballots or cast hand-written ballots. It appears that the names of some of the Breckinridge or Bell electors were crossed off or replaced by 400 to 2,000 fusion-ticket voters. The three Douglas candidates who were on both the fusion and straight-Democrat tickets got over 62,000 votes, the seven Republican candidates all got about 58,300 votes, and the four non-Douglas candidates on the fusion ticket got 58,200 or less. Thus, three Douglas candidates and four Lincoln candidates were elected.[1]

New Jersey was one of four states in 1860 on which the Democrats formed a fusion ticket. The other three states were New York, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island. This is the only time a Republican won the election without Cape May County.

See also

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Elected electors names in boldface. Fusion electors Cook, Parker, and Runyon were pledged to Douglas and voted for him.

Notes

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  1. ^ The three fusion electors voted for Douglas for president and Johnson for vice president.

References

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  1. ^ a b Dubin, Michael J. United States Presidential Elections, 1788–1860: The Official Results by County and State McFarland & Company, 2002, p. 187
  2. ^ a b "Nothing To Brag Of After All". New York Times. November 16, 1860.
  3. ^ The Tribune Almanac and Political Register. Tribune Association. 1861.
  4. ^ Dubin, Michael J. United States Presidential Elections. 1788-1870: The Official Results by County and State. ISBN 978-0-7864-6422-7.
  5. ^ a b How New Jersey Split Its Electoral Votes in 1860 Archived 2019-09-15 at the Wayback Machine Blue Jersey