2001 New Jersey gubernatorial election

See also: 2001 United States gubernatorial elections

The 2001 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2001. Primaries took place on June 25.^[1][2] Democratic nominee Jim McGreevey won the general election with 56% of the vote against Republican Bret Schundler,^[3] becoming New Jersey's first majority-elected governor since James Florio in 1989. Democrats simultaneously ended Republican control of both houses of the legislature after 10 years. This is also the last statewide election in which Democrats won Monmouth and Ocean counties. This was the first time since 1973 that a Democrat won without carrying Cape May County.^[4]

2001 New Jersey gubernatorial election

← 1997 November 6, 2001 2005 →

Nominee Jim McGreevey Bret Schundler Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,256,853 928,174 Percentage 56.4% 41.7%

County results Congressional district results McGreevey:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90% Schundler:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%

Governor before election Richard Codey (acting) Democratic Elected Governor Jim McGreevey Democratic

McGreevey, who was sworn in on January 15, 2002, resigned in November 2004 after disclosing both his homosexuality and an alleged extramarital relationship with a man whom he had appointed as one of his advisors.^[5] He was succeeded by Senate President Richard Codey, who filled the remainder of McGreevey's term.

Democratic primary

Candidates

• Jim McGreevey, Mayor of Woodbridge, former state senator and nominee for governor in 1997
• Elliot Greenspan, LaRouche activist

Withdrew

• Robert Torricelli, U.S. Senator since 1997 (withdrew August 1, 2000)^[6][7]

Results

Democratic Primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jim McGreevey	250,404	95.54%
	Democratic	Elliot Greenspan	11,682	4.46%
Total votes			262,086	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

• Bob Franks, former U.S. Representative from Summit and nominee for U.S. Senate in 2000
• Bret Schundler, Mayor of Jersey City

Withdrew

• Donald DiFrancesco, President of the New Jersey Senate and acting Governor^[a]

Declined

• Jack Collins, Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly since 1996

Results

Republican Primary results^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bret Schundler	193,342	57.38%
	Republican	Bob Franks	143,606	42.62%
Total votes			336,948	100.00%

General election

Candidates

• Jerry Coleman (Green)^[8][9]
• Mark Edgerton (Libertarian)^[8]
• Michael Koontz (Conservative)^[8]
• James McGreevey, former mayor of Woodbridge, State Senator, and nominee for Governor in 1997 (Democratic)^[8]
• Costantino Rozzo (Socialist)^[8]
• Kari Sachs (Socialist Workers)^[8]
• William E. Schluter, State Senator from Pennington (Independent)^[8]
• Bret Schundler, Mayor of Jersey City (Republican)^[8]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size[b]	Margin of error	Jim McGreevey (D)	Bret Schundler (R)	Bill Schluter (I)	Other/ Undecided
Rutgers-Eagleton[10]	January 24–30, 2001	649 RV	±4.0%	43%	19%	—	37%
Rutgers-Eagleton[10]	April 11–17, 2001	632 RV	±4.0%	46%	22%	—	32%
Rutgers-Eagleton[10]	August 15–21, 2001	395 LV	±5.0%	54%	33%	—	14%
				48%	29%	4%	20%
Rutgers-Eagleton[10]	September 22–26, 2001	424 LV	±4.0%	46%	31%	—	24%
Rutgers-Eagleton[10]	October 13–17, 2001	449 LV	±4.7%	45%	33%	—	22%
Rutgers-Eagleton[10]	Oct. 30–Nov. 2, 2001	746 LV	±3.7%	53%	36%	—	11%

1. In 2006, DiFrancesco was retroactively named the 51st Governor of New Jersey by an act of the legislature, but at the time of this election, his title was Acting Governor.
2. Key:
   A – all adults
   RV – registered voters
   LV – likely voters
   PV – "probable" voters

Hypothetical polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Jim McGreevey (D)	Donald DiFrancesco (R)	Other/ Undecided
Rutgers-Eagleton[10]	January 24–30, 2001	649 LV	±4.0%	39%	26%	35%
Rutgers-Eagleton[10]	April 11–17, 2001	632 LV	±4.0%	44%	26%	30%

Results

New Jersey Gubernatorial Election, 2001^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Jim McGreevey	1,256,853	56.43%	10.6
	Republican	Bret Schundler	928,174	41.68%	5.2
	Independent	Bill Schluter	24,084	1.08%	N/A
	Green	Jerry L. Coleman	6,238	0.28%	0.16
	Libertarian	Mark Edgerton	4,684	0.21%	4.51
	Independent	George Watson, Jr.	2,568	0.12%	N/A
	Conservative	Michael W. Koontz	1,949	0.09%	1.36
	Socialist	Costantino Rozzo	1,537	0.07%	0.05
	Socialist Workers	Kari Sachs	1,078	0.05%	0.07
Majority			328,679	14.76%	+13.71%
Turnout			2,227,165
	Democratic gain from Republican		Swing

Results by county^[11]

County	McGreevey votes	McGreevey %	Schundler votes	Schundler %	Other votes	Other %
Atlantic	38,623	57.5%	27,547	41.0%	995	1.5%
Bergen	140,215	55.1%	111,221	43.7%	3,106	1.2%
Burlington	62,697	55.4%	48,098	42.5%	2,437	2.2%
Camden	78,169	64.6%	40,063	33.1%	2,728	2.3%
Cape May	17,118	48.5%	17,471	49.5%	735	2.1%
Cumberland	19,445	57.7%	13,583	40.3%	668	2.0%
Essex	129,406	71.9%	48,540	27.0%	2,083	1.2%
Gloucester	41,083	58.1%	28,210	39.9%	1,392	2.0%
Hudson	85,074	68.8%	37,440	30.3%	1,224	1.0%
Hunterdon	13,911	35.3%	23,059	58.4%	2,484	6.3%
Mercer	57,513	60.9%	31,705	33.6%	5,148	5.5%
Middlesex	117,061	62.7%	66,749	35.7%	2,999	1.6%
Monmouth	91,838	49.5%	89,987	48.5%	3,647	2.0%
Morris	60,948	42.8%	79,350	55.8%	1,942	1.4%
Ocean	84,538	51.2%	77,726	47.1%	2,690	1.6%
Passaic	62,390	58.1%	43,806	40.8%	1,238	1.2%
Salem	10,837	53.5%	8,878	43.8%	540	2.7%
Somerset	39,110	45.6%	44,815	52.2%	1,903	2.2%
Sussex	14,641	37.5%	23,478	60.1%	957	2.4%
Union	79,682	60.3%	50,780	38.4%	1,790	1.4%
Warren	12,554	42.3%	15,668	52.8%	1,432	4.8%

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

• Atlantic (largest municipality: Egg Harbor Township)
• Bergen (largest municipality: Hackensack)
• Monmouth (largest municipality: Middletown Township)
• Ocean (largest municipality: Lakewood)
• Salem (largest municipality: Pennsville Township)

Notes