1990 United States Senate election in New Jersey

none March 2026 September 2023 1990 United States Senate election in New Jersey New Jersey presidential no 1984 United States Senate election in New Jersey 1984 1996 United States Senate election in New Jersey 1996 November 6, 1990 54%https://nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/other/2022-1925-general-election-data.pdf General Election Data - 1924 to 2022 NJ.gov ( 25pp) 150x150px File:BillBradley (cropped).jpg Bill Bradley Democratic Party (United States) 977,810 50.44% Christine Todd Whitman 412-APD-A5-Admin (cropped).jpg Christine Todd Whitman Republican Party (United States) 918,874 47.40% 280px County results 280px Congressional district resultsOnly top two candidates Bradley: #a5b0ff 40–50% #7996e2 50–60% #6674de 60–70% #3933e5 80–90%Whitman: #ffb2b2 40–50% #e27f7f 50–60% #d75d5d 60–70% U.S. Senator Bill Bradley Democratic Party (United States) Bill Bradley Democratic Party (United States) The 1990 New Jersey United States Senate election was held on November 6, 1990. Democratic incumbent Bill Bradley was narrowly re-elected to a third term in office over little-known Republican Christine Todd Whitman.http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1990election.pdf Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 1990 Dendy Dallas L. PDF Whitman came surprisingly close to defeating the popular Bradley, and her overperformance in this election set her up to run for governor of New Jersey in 1993. Democratic primary Candidates Bill Bradley, incumbent U.S. senator since 1979 Daniel Z. Seyler, Phillipsburg resident Results 1990 Democratic U.S. Senate primaryUnited States Senate - Primary Election, June 5, 1990 https://nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/election-results/1990/1990-primary-election-results-us-senate.pdf New Jersey Division of Elections Democratic Party (United States) Bill Bradley (incumbent) 197,454 92.38% Democratic Party (United States) Daniel Z. Seyler 16,287 7.62% 213,741 100.00% Republican primary Candidates Christine Todd Whitman, president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and former Somerset County freeholder (1983–88) Declined Leanna Brown, state senator from ChathamBrown decides against a run for U.S. Senate 24 Feb 1990 https://www.newspapers.com/image/253790178 subscription 14 Oct 2022 Daily Record O'Dea Colleen 3 Campaign The New Jersey Republican Party struggled to recruit a candidate to oppose Bradley, a widely popular incumbent with financial resources in a state that had not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1972,GOP'S Whitman to Face Sen. Bradley Hester Tom 13 Mar 1990 https://www.newspapers.com/image/318009540/ subscription 14 Oct 2022 Central Jersey Home News 3 although incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush had carried the state by a wide margin in 1988 and remained highly popular. The two most commonly mentioned candidates were Christine Todd Whitman, the president of the state board of public utilities, and State Senator Leanna Brown, who had raised her profile through her involvement in Jim Courter's 1989 gubernatorial campaign. Brown removed herself from consideration on February 24, leaving Whitman as the likely nominee. Bradley was expected to outspend the Republican nominee four-to-one and even Whitman admitted that the goal of the Republican campaign was not winning, but rather "show[ing] there are good credible candidates... to show there is life after Tom Kean."BPU's Whitman considers challenging Bradley https://www.newspapers.com/image/317968026/ 25 Feb 1990 Serrill Ted subscription 14 Oct 2022 Central Jersey Home News 13 Whitman, the daughter of former party chair Webster B. Todd, resigned from the public utilities board on March 5 and announced she would face Bradley with the support of the state party on March 13. In doing so, Whitman passed up the opportunity to run for an open U.S. House seat vacated by Jim Courter. Acknowledging the uphill battle Whitman faced, Somerset party chair Jack Penn compared her odds to those of Buster Douglas, a 42:1 underdog who had knocked out Mike Tyson one month earlier. Results 1990 Republican U.S. Senate primary Republican Party (United States) Christine Todd Whitman 112,214 100.00% 112,214 100.00% General election Candidates Bill Bradley, incumbent U.S. senator since 1979 (Democratic) John Kucek (Populist) Don Mackle (Socialist Workers) Louis Stefanelli (Libertarian) Christine Todd Whitman, president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (Republican) Campaign U.S. Senator Bill Bradley didn't realize he was in danger of losing re-election and the New Jersey voters' anger over taxes and economy until the week prior to the election. In the early part of the campaign, Bradley already had a major image problem; he was comfortably ahead in the polls, so his staffers told him to play it safe. He aired television advertisements of himself walking on the beach, shooting a perfect shot on the court, and sitting back in his office with his basketball shoes on his desk. The advertisements backfired as voters were turned off and thought that he wasn't taking his job seriously, especially at a time when voters were suffering.October 2022 Another major problem with Bradley was how Democratic Governor Jim Florio implemented a $2.8 billion tax increase, hurting the state's economy. In addition, Bradley refused to answer questions pertaining to Florio's tax policies.October 2022 After Bradley realized he was in trouble, he released negative advertisements attacking Whitman's own record on taxes, accusing her of favoring tax increases when she was a Somerset County Freeholder. Bradley's image may have been further damaged by his newer advertisements.https://www.nytimes.com/1990/11/08/nyregion/1990-elections-what-went-wrong-bradley-says-he-sensed-voter-fury-but-it-was-too.html?pagewanted=1 THE 1990 ELECTIONS: What Went Wrong?; Bradley Says He Sensed Voter Fury but It Was Too Late to do Anything The New York Times 8 November 1990 King Wayne Polling Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesizekey Key:A – all adultsRV – registered votersLV – likely votersPV – "probable" voters Marginof error BillBradley (D) ChristineWhitman (R) Other/UndecidedRutgers-EagletonRutgers-EagletonSeptember 2025July 2–10, 1990616 LV±4.0% 64% 17% 19%Rutgers-EagletonSeptember 2025Sep. 24–Oct. 2, 1990613 LV±4.0% 56% 26% 18%Rutgers-EagletonSeptember 2025October 16–22, 1990532 LV±4.5% 62% 26% 12%Rutgers-EagletonSeptember 2025October 27–31, 1990987 LV±3.2% 55% 27% 18%466 PV±4.5% 50% 33% 17% Results 1990 United States Senate election in New JerseyNJ DOS - Division of Elections - Election Results Archive https://nj.gov/state/elections/election-information-results.shtml 2025-01-16 nj.gov Democratic Party (United States) Bill Bradley (incumbent) 977,810 50.44% -13.72% Republican Party (United States) Christine Todd Whitman 918,874 47.40% +12.52% Populist Party (United States) John Kucek 19,978 1.03% N/A Libertarian Party (United States) Louis Stefanelli 13,988 0.72% +0.49% Socialist Workers Party (United States) Don Mackle 7,804 0.40% +0.30% 1,938,454 100.0% Democratic Party (United States) Results by county right 280px Swing by county 280px Trend relative to the state by county Legend #d40000 Republican — >15% #ff0000 Republican — +12.5−15% #ff2a2a Republican — +10−12.5% #ff5555 Republican — +7.5−10% #ff8080 Republican — +5−7.5% #ffaaaa Republican — +2.5−5% #ffd5d5 Republican — +0−2.5% #d5f6ff Democratic — +0−2.5% #aaeeff Democratic — +2.5−5% #77e3ff Democratic — +5−7.5% #4bdbff Democratic — +7.5-10% #09ceff Democratic — +10−12.5% #00bdec Democratic — +12.5−15% #00a1c8 Democratic — >15% 280px County flips Legend Democratic #92c5de Hold Republican #ca0120 Flip County Bradley # Bradley % Whitman # Whitman % All Others # All Others %Atlantic 27.905 58.08% 19,481 40.54% 662 1.38%Bergen121,020 49.24% 121,600 49.47% 3,180 1.29%Burlington46,91249.33% 46,287 48.67% 1,901 2.00%Camden72,32856.78% 52,790 41.44% 2,263 1.78%Cape May16,62754.11% 13,528 44.02% 573 1.86%Cumberland 18,186 56.82% 12,765 39.89% 1,053 3.29%Essex93,05261.09% 56,722 37.24% 2,539 1.67%Gloucester35,379 57.01% 25,374 40.89% 1,307 2.11%Hudson65,242 65.62% 32,311 32.50% 1,877 1.89%Hunterdon10,849 36.11% 18,309 60.94%8862.95%Mercer45,03652.28% 39,570 45.94% 1,535 1.78%Middlesex80,080 49.49%77,165 47.69% 4,553 2.81%Monmouth74,93447.62% 80,12650.92%2,2981.46%Morris46,92840.71%66,369 57.57% 1,9831.72%Ocean54,714 39.90%76,948 56.12%5,5473.98%Passaic40,312 46.58% 43,867 50.69% 2,357 2.72%Salem10,08653.99% 7,999 42.82% 596 3.19%Somerset27,50840.30%38,42656.30%2,320 3.40%Sussex12.814 38.45% 19,789 59.37% 726 2.18%Union66,716 52.11%57,628 45.38% 3,184 2.51%Warren11,722 48.72% 11,820 49.12% 520 2.16% Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Bergen Hunterdon Monmouth Morris Ocean Passaic Somerset Sussex Warren See also 1990 United States Senate elections References New Jersey 1990 United States Senate