1925 New Jersey gubernatorial election
November 3, 1925
 
Nominee A. Harry Moore Arthur Whitney
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 471,549 433,121
Percentage 51.9% 47.6%
County results
Moore:      50–60%      70–80%
Whitney:      40–50%      50-60%      60–70%
Governor before election

George Sebastian Silzer
Democratic

 Elected Governor

A. Harry Moore
Democratic

The 1925 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1925. Democratic Jersey City Commissioner A. Harry Moore defeated Republican State Senator Arthur Whitney with 51.87% of the vote.

Primary elections were held in June. Whitney defeated former New Jersey Attorney General Thomas F. McCran and judge Cornelius Doremus.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Republican primary

Candidates

Campaign

McCran had the support of Senator Walter Evans Edge and much of the state party establishment. Whitney was supported by the prohibitionist Anti-Saloon League.[2]

Establishment support for McCran was so strong that the party moved its primary from September to June, apparently to advantage McCran. Nevertheless, Whitney remained confident, expressing, "the Republican voters will repudiate the boss-ridden machine supporting my opponent."[3]

The third candidate in the race, judge Cornelius Doremus, ran as an ardent supporter of Prohibition. Near the end of the campaign, he wrote a public letter to Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Lincoln C. Andrews, congratulating him on his work to disrupt rum smuggling in the Atlantic Ocean.[3]

Whitney accused Doremus, a former Democrat, of trying to draw prohibitionist votes away from his campaign and of being in league with McCran and the state party. On the night before the primary, he declared, "They are in flagrant combination against me."[3]

Fundraising

Primary campaign finance activity through June 15, 1925
CandidateRaisedSpentCash on hand
Cornelius Doremus$22,720$18,082.82$4,637.18
Thomas McCran$17,445$16,169.17$1,275.83
Arthur Whitney$49,470$37,082.18$12,387.82
Source:[1]

The primary spending limit under the law at the time was $50,000. Senator Edge contributed $5,000 to McCran's campaign, and McCran contributed the same amount himself. Whitney and Doremus contributed the bulk of their own campaign funds, at $42,000 and $19,350 respectively.[1]

Results

Whitney won the primary by around 27,000 votes over McCran, with Doremus around another 43,000 votes behind McCran's total.[3]

Aftermath

Thomas McCran died in September.[2]

General election

Candidates

  • John C. Butterworth (Socialist Labor)
  • Leo M. Harkins (Socialist)
  • A. Harry Moore, Jersey City Commissioner (Democratic)
  • Eugene A. Smith (Prohibition)
  • George Perlman (Workers)
  • Joseph Ferguson (Commonwealth Land)
  • Arthur Whitney, State Senator for Morris County (Republican)

Campaign

For the third straight election, the campaign was split between prohibitionist Republicans and anti-Prohibition Democrats,[3] and for the third straight election, the Democratic candidate won.

Results

New Jersey gubernatorial election, 1925[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic A. Harry Moore 471,549 51.87%
Republican Arthur Whitney 433,121 47.64%
Socialist Leo M. Harkins 1,956 0.22% -0.47%
Prohibition Eugene A. Smith 1,198 0.13%
Socialist Labor John C. Butterworth 594 0.07%
Independent George Perlman 591 0.07%
Independent Joseph Ferguson 153 0.02%
Majority
Turnout
Democratic hold Swing

References

  1. 1 2 3 "STATE CAMPAIGN EXPENSES.; McCran Spent $16,169, Whitney $37,082 and Doremus $18,082". June 14, 1925. p. E3. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  2. 1 2 "T. F. M'Cran Dies After Campaign". The New York Times. September 20, 1925. p. E7. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "THE NEW JERSEY PRIMARY". The New York Times. June 18, 1925. p. 20. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Votes Cast for the Office of Governor of the State of New Jersey" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1925. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
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