Primary elections were held on Tuesday, June 6. Courter won the Republican nomination over a large field that included state Attorney General W. Cary Edwards, Speaker of the Assembly Chuck Hardwick, and State Senators Bill Gormley and Gerald Cardinale. Florio, who had run in 1977 and 1981, won the Democratic nomination with little trouble over Princeton mayor Barbara Boggs Sigmund and former Speaker Alan Karcher.
The Washington Post called the election "one of the most negative gubernatorial campaigns in the state's history".[2] Democrats also won back the New Jersey General Assembly on Florio's coattails.
Lois Rand, former head of the New Jersey Small Business Administration[3]
Speaker Hardwick announced his campaign on February 9.[4]
Campaign
Hardwick presented himself as a slightly more conservative version of Kean, even noting their physical similarities: part of his stump speech was to ask, "How can a Republican Assembly Speaker with a gap-toothed smile, who isn't a lawyer, expect to be Governor?" Nevertheless, he was critical of Kean's proposals for property tax reform, coastal commission to manage growth on the Jersey shore, and his renomination New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Wilentz, a liberal.[5] Hardwick, himself a former commuter, also picked a public fight on behalf of New Jersey commuters with Governor of New York Mario Cuomo, attacking New York's income tax on New Jerseyans working in New York City.[5]
The Hardwick campaign actively sought endorsement from New Jersey Right to Life, the NRA Political Victory Fund, and police officers' groups in an attempt to attract unaffiliated voters into the Republican primary.[6]
Hardwick won some early victories, including a non-binding Middlesex County Republican Convention, where he took 51% of the delegates in a county Courter represented in Congress.[5]
As the campaign concluded and polls showed Courter narrowly behind, he remained confident of victory.[7]
On primary election night, Courter declared victory at around 11:15 P.M., after only Hardwick had conceded. He announced that his campaign would focus on lower insurance rates, lower property taxes, and a stronger death penalty. By then aware that Jim Florio would be his opponent, Courter said the race would be "a great confrontation... a great debate between two people."[8] He emphasized his support for Governor Kean, whom he called "the greatest governor this state has ever had." Campaign advisors attributed his win to a strong performance in his own congressional district, where he outpolled the field two-to-one in every county.[8]
Edwards attributed his loss to Gormley: "We're good friends, but if one of us had been candidates, I think that the other one would have won."[9] Hardwick admitted that his campaign had been slipping in internal polling and he had realized he would lose a week before the election.[13] All of the competitive candidates agreed to support Courter actively in the general election.[9][13][14]
Michael Ziruolo, trucking consultant (Better Affordable Government)[15]
Campaign
Florio, who had run in the Democratic primary for Governor in 1977 and had lost an extremely close general election in 1981 to Thomas Kean, stressed in this campaign that he would govern more like Kean than the conservative Courter would. Florio also contended that he would lead an active government to combat potential overdevelopment and pollution.[16] To moderate his positions, Florio promised a wider use of the state death penalty for drug crimes.[17][18] Florio also said: "You can write this statement down: 'Florio feels there is no need for new taxes'".[19] (Florio broke the latter promise in 1990, when he signed a $2.8-billion tax increase.[18])
Following a Supreme Court ruling that would allow states to impose regulations on abortions, Courter—who had an anti-abortion voting record in Congress—sought to moderate his position, causing voters to distrust him.[20][21]
The campaign was notable for its negativity. In September, Florio released a televised attack ad contending that Courter had failed "to clean up toxic wastes on his own property". Courter challenged that assertion and accused Florio of taking campaign donations from a union with mob ties. According to The New York Times, "both candidates aired their own 'Pinocchio' spots accusing the other of lying on various issues". In their first debate, Courter called himself an environmentalist; Florio responded, 'Cut me a break'".[2]
This is the most recent gubernatorial election in New Jersey in which the Democratic nominee won with over 60% of the vote, and the last in which either party did so until 2013.
