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,[4] although incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush had carried the state by a wide margin in 1988 and remained highly popular.[4] 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.[3]
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."[5] 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.[4] 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 outMike Tyson one month earlier.[4]
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.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed]
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.[6]
^Dendy, Dallas L. "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 1990" (PDF).
^ ab"United States Senate - Primary Election, June 5, 1990" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Elections.
^ abO'Dea, Colleen (February 24, 1990). "Brown decides against a run for U.S. Senate". Daily Record. p. 3. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
^ abcdHester, Tom (March 13, 1990). "GOP'S Whitman to Face Sen. Bradley". Central Jersey Home News. p. 3. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
^Serrill, Ted (February 25, 1990). "BPU's Whitman considers challenging Bradley". Central Jersey Home News. p. 13. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
^King, Wayne (November 8, 1990). "THE 1990 ELECTIONS: What Went Wrong?; Bradley Says He Sensed Voter Fury but It Was Too Late to do Anything". The New York Times.
March 14, 2024
1990, united, states, senate, election, jersey, 1990, jersey, united, states, senate, election, held, november, 1990, select, class, senator, from, state, jersey, democratic, senator, bill, bradley, decided, seek, election, narrowly, edged, little, known, repu. The 1990 New Jersey United States Senate election was held on November 6 1990 to select the Class 2 U S Senator from the state of New Jersey Democratic U S Senator Bill Bradley decided to seek re election and narrowly edged out little known Republican Christine Todd Whitman 1 1990 United States Senate election in New Jersey 1984 November 6 1990 1996 Nominee Bill Bradley Christine Todd WhitmanParty Democratic RepublicanPopular vote 977 810 918 874Percentage 50 44 47 40 County resultsCongressional district results a Bradley 40 50 50 60 60 70 80 90 Whitman 40 50 50 60 60 70 U S senator before electionBill BradleyDemocratic Elected U S Senator Bill BradleyDemocratic Contents 1 Democratic primary 1 1 Candidates 1 2 Results 2 Republican primary 2 1 Candidates 2 1 1 Declined 2 2 Campaign 2 3 Results 3 General election 3 1 Candidates 3 2 Campaign 3 3 Polling 3 4 Results 3 4 1 Results by County 4 See also 5 ReferencesDemocratic primary editCandidates edit Bill Bradley incumbent U S Senator since 1979 Daniel Z Seyler Phillipsburg residentResults edit 1990 Democratic U S Senate primary 2 Party Candidate Votes Democratic Bill Bradley incumbent 197 454 92 38 Democratic Daniel Z Seyler 16 287 7 62 Total votes 213 741 100 00 Republican primary editCandidates edit Christine Todd Whitman President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and former Somerset County Freeholder 1983 1988 Declined edit Leanna Brown State Senator from Chatham 3 Campaign edit 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 4 although incumbent Republican President George H W Bush had carried the state by a wide margin in 1988 and remained highly popular 4 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 3 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 5 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 4 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 4 Results edit 1990 Republican U S Senate primary 2 Party Candidate Votes Republican Christine Todd Whitman 112 214 100 00 Total votes 112 214 100 00 General election editCandidates edit 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 edit 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 citation needed 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 citation needed 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 6 Polling edit Poll source Date s administered Samplesize b Marginof error BillBradley D ChristineWhitman R Other UndecidedRutgers Eagleton July 2 10 1990 616 LV 4 0 64 17 19 Rutgers Eagleton Sep 24 Oct 2 1990 613 LV 4 0 56 26 18 Rutgers Eagleton October 16 22 1990 532 LV 4 5 62 26 12 Rutgers Eagleton October 27 31 1990 987 LV 3 2 55 27 18 466 PV 4 5 50 33 17 Only top two candidates Key A all adultsRV registered votersLV likely votersPV probable voters Results edit 1990 United States Senate election in New Jersey Party Candidate Votes Democratic Bill Bradley incumbent 977 810 50 44 Republican Christine Todd Whitman 918 874 47 40 Populist John Kucek 19 978 1 0 Libertarian Louis Stefanelli 13 988 0 7 Socialist Workers Don Mackle 7 804 0 4 Total votes 1 938 454 100 0 Democratic holdResults by County edit County Bradley votes Bradley Whitman votes Whitman Other votes Other Atlantic 27 905 58 08 19 481 40 54 662 1 38 Bergen 121 020 49 24 121 600 49 47 3 180 1 29 Burlington 46 912 49 33 46 287 48 67 1 901 2 00 Camden 72 328 56 78 52 790 41 44 2 263 1 78 Cape May 16 627 54 11 13 528 44 02 573 1 86 Cumberland 18 186 56 82 12 765 39 89 1 053 3 29 Essex 93 052 61 09 56 722 37 24 2 539 1 67 Gloucester 35 379 57 01 25 374 40 89 1 307 2 11 Hudson 65 242 65 62 32 311 32 50 1 877 1 89 Hunterdon 10 849 36 11 18 309 60 94 886 2 95 Mercer 45 036 52 28 39 570 45 94 1 535 1 78 Middlesex 80 080 49 49 77 165 47 69 4 553 2 81 Monmouth 74 934 47 62 80 126 50 92 2 298 1 46 Morris 46 928 40 71 66 369 57 57 1 983 1 72 Ocean 54 714 39 90 76 948 56 12 5 547 3 98 Passaic 46 58 40 312 43 867 50 69 2 357 2 72 Salem 10 086 53 99 7 999 42 82 596 3 19 Somerset 27 508 40 30 38 426 56 30 2 320 3 40 Sussex 12 814 38 45 19 789 59 37 726 2 18 Union 66 716 52 11 57 628 45 38 3 184 2 51 Warren 11 722 48 72 11 820 49 12 520 2 16 See also edit1990 United States Senate electionsReferences edit Dendy Dallas L Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6 1990 PDF a b United States Senate Primary Election June 5 1990 PDF New Jersey Division of Elections a b O Dea Colleen February 24 1990 Brown decides against a run for U S Senate Daily Record p 3 Retrieved October 14 2022 a b c d Hester Tom March 13 1990 GOP S Whitman to Face Sen Bradley Central Jersey Home News p 3 Retrieved October 14 2022 Serrill Ted February 25 1990 BPU s Whitman considers challenging Bradley Central Jersey Home News p 13 Retrieved October 14 2022 King Wayne November 8 1990 THE 1990 ELECTIONS What Went Wrong Bradley Says He Sensed Voter Fury but It Was Too Late to do Anything The New York Times Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1990 United States Senate election in New Jersey amp oldid 1195271187, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
