2013 New Jersey gubernatorial election

The 2013 New Jersey gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2013, to elect the governor of New Jersey. Incumbent Republican Governor Chris Christie ran for re-election to a second term in office. He faced Democratic nominee Barbara Buono and six others in the general election.

Christie won the election outright, receiving over 60% of the vote and carrying 19 of the state's 21 counties, with Buono only winning heavily Democratic Hudson and Essex. This is the only statewide election held in New Jersey since the 1988 presidential election in which a Republican earned a majority of the vote. Christie became the first Republican gubernatorial candidate to win a majority of the vote since Thomas Kean's landslide victory in 1985.

Christie won 21% of Black voters and 51% of Latinos. , this is the last time Republicans won any statewide election in New Jersey. This is also the last time the counties of Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Middlesex, Mercer, Passaic, and Union voted for the Republican candidate in a statewide election, as well as the last time that Somerset did so in a gubernatorial election. Buono is the only Democratic nominee for governor since 1985 to have never been elected governor.

Christie was criticized for spending an additional $12–25 million of state money to hold a special election for United States Senator for New Jersey 20 days earlier on October 16 instead of simply holding the special election on November 5, concurrent with the already scheduled gubernatorial election. The Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate was Newark mayor Cory Booker. Buono said it was hypocritical, speculating that Booker's presence on the ballot would attract more black and other minority voters who would be likely to vote for Buono.

This is the only gubernatorial election since 1989 in which anyone won over 60% of the vote, and Christie was the first Republican to do so since 1985. Cumberland, Camden, and Union counties voted Republican in a gubernatorial election for the first time since 1985, and Mercer & Passaic since 1993.

Declared

 * Chris Christie, incumbent governor
 * Seth Grossman, former Atlantic City Councilman

Results
[[File:New Jersey Republican gubernatorial primary results by county, 2013.svg|225px|thumb|Results by county Christie

{{legend|#d75d5dff|Christie—80–90%}}

{{legend|#c21b18ff|Christie—>90%}} ]]

Declared

 * Barbara Buono, state senator and former state senate majority leader
 * Troy Webster, aide to East Orange mayor Robert Bowser

Removed from primary ballot

 * William Araujo, former mayoral candidate in Edison
 * Carl Bergmanson, former mayor of Glen Ridge and candidate for governor in 2009
 * Jeff Boss, conspiracy theorist and perennial candidate

Araujo, Bergmanson, Boss, and Webster had their nominating petitions challenged by the New Jersey Democratic State Committee; only Webster's petitions were found to be valid therefore allowing his name to remain on the primary ballot with Buono. Araujo and Boss subsequently filed new petitions to run in the general election as independents.

Declined

 * Rob Andrews, U.S. Representative
 * Chris Bollwage, mayor of Elizabeth
 * Cory Booker, mayor of Newark (ran for and won a U.S. Senate seat three weeks earlier on October 16)
 * Richard Codey, state senator, former state senate president and former governor
 * Joseph Cryan, former assembly majority leader
 * Brendan Gill, Essex County Freeholder
 * Louis Greenwald, Assembly Majority Leader
 * Lisa P. Jackson, former Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency
 * Phil Murphy, U.S. Ambassador to Germany, former Goldman Sachs executive, and future governor of New Jersey
 * Sheila Oliver, Speaker of the State Assembly
 * Frank Pallone, U.S. Representative
 * Bill Pascrell, U.S. Representative
 * Stephen Sweeney, State Senate President
 * John Wisniewski, chair of the New Jersey Democratic Party and State Assemblyman

Results
[[File:New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial primary results by county, 2013.svg|225px|thumb|Results by county Buono

{{legend|#002b84|Buono—>90%}}

{{legend|#0645b4|Buono—80-90%}}

{{legend|#1666cb|Buono—70–80%}} ]]

Major party candidates

 * Barbara Buono (Democratic), former majority leader of the New Jersey Senate
 * Running mate: Milly Silva, New Jersey executive vice president for 1199 SEIU


 * Chris Christie (Republican), incumbent governor
 * Running mate: Kim Guadagno, incumbent lieutenant governor

Minor candidates

 * William Araujo, Peace and Freedom
 * Running mate: Maria Salamanca
 * Jeff Boss, NSA
 * Running mate: Robert B. Thorne
 * Kenneth R. Kaplan, New Jersey Libertarian Party
 * Running mate: Brenda Bell
 * Diane W. Sare, Glass-Steagall Now
 * Running mate: Bruce Todd
 * Hank Schroeder, Independent
 * Running mate: Patricia Moschella
 * Steve Welzer, Green Party of New Jersey
 * Running mate: Patricia Alessandrini

Debates

 * Complete video of debate, October 8, 2013 - C-SPAN
 * Complete video of debate, October 15, 2013 - C-SPAN

Polling

 * with Booker


 * with Byrne


 * with Codey


 * with Greenwald


 * with Pallone


 * with Springsteen


 * with Sweeney


 * with Wisniewski

County results
2013 New Jersey gubernatorial election results map by municipality.svg; darker colors indicate higher win percentage:

-Red municipalities won by Christie

-Blue municipalities won by Buono

-One borough (Victory Gardens) Christie and Buono tied]]

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

 * Bergen (largest municipality: Hackensack)
 * Camden (largest municipality: Cherry Hill)
 * Cumberland (largest municipality: Vineland)
 * Mercer (largest municipality: Hamilton Township)
 * Passaic (largest municipality: Paterson)
 * Union (largest municipality: Elizabeth)

Results by congressional district
Christe won 10 of the 12 congressional districts, including four that elected Democrats, although he won the 9th district by a very narrow margin.