1988 United States Senate election in New Jersey
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 County results Lautenberg: 50–60% 60–70% Dawkins: 40-50% 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in New Jersey |
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 |
 Federal government |
 State government |
 Newark |
 Jersey City |
 Hoboken |
 Atlantic City |
The 1988 United States Senate election in New Jersey was held on November 8, 1988. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg won re-election to a second term with a margin of 8.37%.
General election[]
Candidates[]
- Pete Dawkins, retired U.S. Army brigadier general and CEO of Primerica Financial Services, Inc. (Republican)
- Thomas A. Fiske (Socialist Workers)
- Joseph F. Job, Bergen County Sheriff and candidate for U.S. Senate in 1970 (Independent)
- Frank Lautenberg, incumbent U.S. Senator since 1982 (Democratic)
- Jerry Zeldin (Libertarian)
Campaign[]
The campaign was full of political mudslinging, with Lautenberg accusing Dawkins of being a carpetbagger, noting his very brief residency in the state,[1] and also accusing Dawkins' campaign of lying about his war record.[2] Dawkins accused Lautenberg of running a smear campaign against, called him a "swamp dog",[3] and criticized him for saying he voted eight times against a senatorial pay raise without mentioning the fact that he did vote once for the pay raise.[2]
Polling[]
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[a] |
Margin of error |
Frank Lautenberg (D) |
Pete Dawkins (R) |
Other/ Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutgers-Eagleton Poll | Jan. 29–Feb. 8, 1988 | 575 LV | ±4.2% | 45% | 16% | 39% |
| Rutgers-Eagleton Poll | May 18–26, 1988 | 611 LV | ±4.0% | 45% | 28% | 27% |
| Rutgers-Eagleton Poll | September 16–22, 1988 | 765 LV | ��3.5% | 53% | 32% | 16% |
| Rutgers-Eagleton Poll | October 17–25, 1988 | 774 RV | ±3.5% | 50% | 38% | 12% |
| 627 LV | ±4.0% | 50% | 39% | 11% | ||
| Rutgers-Eagleton Poll | November 3–6, 1988 | 1,183 RV | ±2.9% | 49% | 38% | 13% |
| 954 LV | ±3.3% | 51% | 39% | 10% |
- ^ Key:
A – all adults
RV – registered voters
LV – likely voters
V – unclear
Results[]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Frank Lautenberg (Incumbent), Secaucus | 1,599,905 | 53.55% | ||
| Republican | Pete Dawkins, Rumson | 1,349,937 | 45.18% | ||
| Independent | Joseph F. Job, Rutherford | 20,091 | 0.67% | ||
| Libertarian | Jerry Zeldin, Laurel Springs | 12,354 | 0.41% | ||
| Socialist Workers | Thomas A. Fiske, Newark | 5,347 | 0.18% | ||
| Majority | 249,968 | 8.37% | |||
| Turnout | 2,987,634 | 100.00% | |||
| Democratic hold | |||||
By county[]
| County | Lautenberg % | Lautenberg votes | Dawkins % | Dawkins votes | Other % | Other votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic | 54.7% | 41,004 | 44.6% | 33,417 | 0.7% | 493 |
| Bergen | 52.6% | 199,195 | 45.5% | 172,257 | 1.9% | 7,291 |
| Burlington | 52.0% | 75,513 | 47.3% | 68,657 | 0.6% | 929 |
| Camden | 59.1% | 110,718 | 40.1% | 75,162 | 0.8% | 1,438 |
| Cape May | 46.6% | 19,720 | 52.8% | 22,349 | 0.5% | 223 |
| Cumberland | 55.4% | 25,379 | 42.9% | 19,680 | 1.7% | 771 |
| Essex | 65.0% | 170,591 | 32.4% | 85,169 | 2.6% | 6,855 |
| Gloucester | 53.4% | 46,247 | 42.9% | 39,232 | 1.7% | 1,055 |
| Hudson | 61.7% | 108,355 | 37.0% | 65,092 | 1.3% | 2,270 |
| Hunterdon | 41.1% | 18,281 | 57.6% | 25,615 | 1.2% | 544 |
| Mercer | 61.8% | 80,569 | 37.7% | 49,122 | 0.6% | 724 |
| Middlesex | 55.1% | 141,067 | 43.8% | 112,182 | 1.1% | 2,796 |
| Monmouth | 50.8% | 117,063 | 48.3% | 111,318 | 0.8% | 1,906 |
| Morris | 43.0% | 79,237 | 56.4% | 103,843 | 0.6% | 1,057 |
| Ocean | 46.0% | 84,812 | 53.2% | 98,161 | 0.8% | 1,512 |
| Passaic | 52.7% | 77,827 | 45.0% | 66,440 | 2.4% | 3,512 |
| Salem | 48.8% | 12,485 | 49.1% | 12,562 | 2.1% | 534 |
| Somerset | 46.4% | 47,648 | 52.5% | 53,969 | 1.1% | 1,138 |
| Sussex | 38.4% | 19,035 | 60.4% | 29,909 | 1.2% | 613 |
| Union | 55.0% | 109,852 | 44.1% | 88,027 | 0.9% | 1,775 |
| Warren | 45.8% | 15,307 | 53.2% | 17,774 | 1.1% | 356 |
See also[]
- 1988 United States Senate elections
References[]
- ^ Otterbourg, Robert (June 26, 1988). "NEW JERSEY OPINION; Carpetbagging is Not a Real Issue". The New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- ^ a b Povich, Elaine S. (October 20, 1988). "New Jersey Senate Race A Mudslide". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- ^ May, Clifford D. (October 26, 1988). "For Senate Rivals in Jersey, It's Personal". New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- ^ "Our Campaigns - NJ US Senate Race - Nov 08, 1988".
Categories:
- United States Senate elections in New Jersey
- 1988 United States Senate elections
- 1988 New Jersey elections