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  Byrne: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Sandman: 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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The 1973 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 1973. Incumbent Governor William T. Cahill ran for reelection, but was defeated in the Republican primary by Charles W. Sandman Jr. In the general election, Democratic nominee Brendan Byrne defeated Sandman with 66.67% of the vote.
Primary elections were held on June 5.[1] Sandman defeated Governor Cahill, whose reputation had been damaged by a series of corruption scandals, in a rematch of the 1969 Republican primary; his victory "shocked party leaders throughout the state."[2] Byrne, a judge who had garnered a reputation for resistance to corruption, defeated Ann Klein and Ralph DeRose to win the Democratic nomination.
Byrne carried 20 of New Jersey's 21 counties, with Sandman only winning his native Cape May. To date, this remains the largest margin of victory and share of the vote for the Democratic Party in a gubernatorial election. This is the only gubernatorial election in which the Democratic nominee won Morris County since 1931 and Sussex County since 1937, as well as the only time a New Jersey governor was defeated in the primary. Democrats also flipped both houses of the New Jersey legislature.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "Candidates for the Office of Governor - State of New Jersey" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1973. Retrieved August 22, 2015.
- ^ Sullivan, Ronald (June 6, 1973). "Sandman Defeats Cahill In New Jersey's Primary; Democrats Select Byrne". The New York Times. p. 97. Retrieved July 24, 2022.