1953 New Jersey gubernatorial election

none January 2025 September 2023 1953 New Jersey gubernatorial election New Jersey 1896 Presidential no 1949 New Jersey gubernatorial election 1949 1957 New Jersey gubernatorial election 1957 November 3, 1953 70% of eligible votershttps://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/1920-1970//1977-general-election.pdf Results of the General Election Held November 8, 1977 Donald Lan, Secretary of State August 8, 2025 ( 6%) File:Robert Baumle Meyner (1908-1990) with the background removed.png 150x150px Robert B. Meyner Democratic Party (United States) 962,710 53.17% File:Paul Troast Crop.png Paul L. Troast Republican Party (United States) 809,068 44.68% 1953 New Jersey gubernatorial election results map by county.svg 280px County resultsMeyner: #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% Troast: #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% Governor Alfred E. Driscoll Republican Party (United States) Robert B. Meyner Democratic Party (United States) The 1953 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1953. Incumbent governor Alfred E. Driscoll was constitutionally prohibited from seeking a third term in office. Democratic former State Senator Robert B. Meyner defeated Republican businessman Paul L. Troast winning 53.17% of the vote. Primary elections were held on April 21, 1953.1953 Results of the Primary Election Held April 21st, 1953 https://nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/1920-1970//1953-primary-election.pdf June 12, 2025 Secretary of State of New Jersey Republican primary Candidates Malcolm Forbes, state senator from Somerset County Kenneth Hand, state senator from Union County Charles Richard Klein, senior guard at Rahway State PrisonThe New York Times 3 Dec 2021 22 Apr 1953 1 https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1953/04/15/83839925.html?pageNumber=45 Troast Nominated in Jersey; Meyner Leads Wene Slightly Frederick F. Richardson, former mayor of New Brunswick Fred E. Shepard, state assemblyman from Elizabeth Paul L. Troast, businessman and chairman of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority Alvin W. Van Schoick, Long Branch golf caddy Withdrew Clifford Case, U.S. representative from Rahway Campaign The campaign was primarily a contest between businessman Paul Troast and state senator and billionaire magazine publisher Malcolm Forbes. Troast campaigned on a platform of spending cuts and was considered the favorite by the final weeks of the campaign.The New York Times 3 Dec 2021 15 Apr 1953 45 https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1953/04/22/110064509.html?pageNumber=1 CANDIDATES BUSY ON JERSEY STUMPS He had the support of the Driscoll administration and virtually every major Republican leader, including 18 out of 21 county organizations, while Forbes ran as an outsider anti-administration candidate. Results Troast won handily. Forbes carried his home county of Somerset and native Passaic by large margins, but trailed nearly everywhere else. Republican Party primary results Paul L. Troast Republican Party (United States) 218,826 51.59% Malcolm Forbes Republican Party (United States) 166,364 39.22% Kenneth C. Hand Republican Party (United States) 15,373 3.62% Alvin W. Van Schoick Republican Party (United States) 7,504 1.77% Frederick F. Richardson Republican Party (United States) 6,255 1.48% Fred E. Shepard Republican Party (United States) 6,229 1.47% Charles Richard Klein Republican Party (United States) 3,627 0.86% 424,178 100.0% Democratic primary Candidates Robert B. Meyner, attorney and former state senator from Warren County Alexander F. Ormsby, Jersey City attorney and former judge of the Court of Common Pleas Elmer H. Wene, chicken breeder, former U.S. Representative from Cumberland County, and nominee for Governor in 1949 John J. Winberry, Passaic attorney and former special assistant New Jersey Attorney General Campaign The primary campaign was a tight contest between the previous nominee, former Congressman Elmer H. Wene and former State Senator Robert B. Meyner. It was the first competitive Democratic primary for governor in at least 25 years. Meyner had the support of the state party establishment and a base in North Jersey, while Wene enjoyed an edge among rank-and-file voters and higher name recognition owing to his 1949 campaign. The Democratic campaign was insurgent, with both front-runners focusing on gambling and criminal enforcement scandals in the incumbent Republican Driscoll administration. Results On election night, the results were inconclusive and neither candidate claimed clear victory; Meyner led by about 6,000, owing to a large margin in Hudson County, but most of the outstanding vote was from Wene's base in rural South Jersey. After Meyner was declared the victor following a recount, Wene refused to support him, calling the Jersey City results "questionable."WENE REFUSES AID IN MEYNER'S RACE; Jersey Democrat Defeated in Gubernatorial Primary Says He Will Not Support Rival 28 Oct 1953 3 Dec 2021 https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1953/10/28/83738782.html?pageNumber=26 Democratic primary results Robert B. Meyner Democratic Party (United States) 107,801 45.68% Elmer H. Wene Democratic Party (United States) 106,216 45.01% Alexander F. Ormsby Democratic Party (United States) 17,161 7.27% John J. Winberry Democratic Party (United States) 4,828 2.05% 236,006 100.00% General election Candidates Henry B. Krajewski, pig farmer and candidate for president in 1952 (Veterans Bonus Now) Robert B. Meyner, State Senator for Warren County (Democratic) Albert Ronis (Socialist Labor) Clendenin Ryan, publisher of the New American Mercury (Independent Voters) Paul L. Troast, businessman and chair of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (Republican) Campaign The race received national attention as a test of the popularity of the new Dwight Eisenhower presidency, as the only other state election holding elections, Virginia, was safely Democratic. Late in the campaign, Meyner suffered a setback when Democratic former mayor of Jersey Frank Hague Eggers endorsed Troast over his opposition to current mayor John V. Kenny, Meyner's chief backer. A week after that, Democratic runner-up and prior nominee Elmer H. Wene refused to support Meyner's candidacy, referring to the result in Jersey City, and therefore the primary overall, as "questionable." Though he did not endorse Troast, Wene said that "the election of a Democratic candidate would in truth be the election of Mayor Kenny and would destroy the integrity of our state government." State party chairman Charles R. Howell referred to Wene's statement as "pathetic" and accused Republicans of an alliance with former Democratic boss Frank Hague. Results New Jersey gubernatorial election, 1953http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/1920-1970-results/1953-general-election.pdf Votes Cast for the Office of Governor of the State of New Jersey Secretary of State of New Jersey 1953 August 27, 2015 Democratic Party (United States) Robert B. Meyner 962,710 53.17% 6.04 Republican Party (United States) Paul L. Troast 809,068 44.68% 6.86 Independent politician Clendenin Ryan 23,271 1.29% N/A Independent politician Henry B. Krajewski 12,881 0.71% N/A Socialist Labor Party of America Albert Ronis 2,882 0.16% 0.22 Democratic Party (United States) By county CountyRobert B. MeynerDemocraticPaul L. TroastRepublicanVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal votes cast # % # % # % # % Atlantic 19,481 35.42% 35,452 64.46% 69 1.12% −15,971 −29.04% 55,002 Bergen 110,530 47.95% 115,605 50.15% 4,365 1.90% −5,075 −2.20% 230,500 Burlington 23,236 53.11% 20,403 46.63% 114 0.26% 2,833 6.48% 43,753 Camden 68,183 61.52% 41,687 37.62% 952 0.86% 26,496 23.90% 110,822 Cape May 6,531 35.26% 11,957 64.56% 34 0.18% -5,426 −29.30% 18,522 Cumberland 14,420 47.64% 15,716 51.92% 134 0.44% −1,296 −4.28% 30,270 Essex 141,996 50.99% 127,782 45.89% 8,692 3.12% 14,214 5.10% 278,470 Gloucester 18,012 49.51% 18,216 50.07% 152 0.42% −204 −0.56% 36,380 Hudson 160,425 61.48% 89,501 34.30% 11,014 4.22% 70,924 27.18% 260,940 Hunterdon 8,513 52.26% 7,628 46.82% 150 0.92% 885 5.44% 16,291 Mercer 50,624 63.41% 28,351 35.51% 856 1.07% 22,273 27.90% 79,831 Middlesex 72,592 62.33% 40,685 34.93% 3,189 2.74% 31,907 27.40% 116,466 Monmouth 38,615 47.01% 43,046 52.41% 474 0.58% -4,431 -5.40% 82,135 Morris 26,899 42.11% 36,100 56.51% 884 1.38% −9,201 −14.40% 63,883 Ocean 9,302 36.03% 16,326 63.24% 187 0.42% -7,024 -27.21% 25,815 Passaic 65,852 50.89% 60,599 46.83% 2,945 2.28% 5,253 4.06% 129,396 Salem 9,919 56.18% 7,694 43.58% 43 0.24% 2,225 12.60% 17,656 Somerset 17,921 52.29% 15,737 45.91% 617 1.80% 2,184 6.38% 34,275 Sussex 6,727 46.53% 7,566 52.33% 165 1.14% -839 -5.80% 14,458 Union 76,144 53.63% 61,973 43.65% 3,865 2.72% 14,171 9.98% 141,982 Warren 16,788 69.53% 7,224 29.92% 133 0.55% 9,564 39.61% 24,145Totals 962,710 53.16% 809,068 44.68% 39,034 2.16% 153,642 8.48% 1,810,812 Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Atlantic Cumberland Gloucester Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Essex Somerset Union References collapsed 1953 New Jersey Gubernatorial Category:November 1953 in the United States