1988 United States Senate election in New Jersey
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%.
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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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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[lower-alpha 1] |
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
References
- Otterbourg, Robert (June 26, 1988). "NEW JERSEY OPINION; Carpetbagging is Not a Real Issue". The New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2015.
- 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".
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