1989 New Jersey gubernatorial election
The 1989 New Jersey gubernatorial election was a race for Governor of New Jersey held on November 7, 1989. Incumbent Republican Governor Thomas Kean was term-limited having been elected to served two consecutive terms. Democrat James Florio, a U.S. Representative from the 1st district and a two-time unsuccessful candidate for Governor, defeated 12th district Republican Representative Jim Courter in a 24-point landslide. Until 2017, this is the last time Somerset County went for a Democratic candidate for governor.

Primary elections
Primary elections for the Republican and Democratic parties were held on Tuesday June 6, 1989.

Republican primary

Candidates
Tom Blomquist, retired Coast Guard captain
Gerald Cardinale, State Senator
Jim Courter, U.S. Representative
W. Cary Edwards, New Jersey Attorney General
William Gormley, State Senator
Chuck Hardwick, Speaker of the General Assembly
James A. Kolyer, industrial arts teacher
Lois Rand, former head of the New Jersey Small Business Administration

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates
James Florio, U.S. Representative
Alan Karcher, former Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly
Barbara Boggs Sigmund, Mayor of Princeton and former Mercer County Freeholder

Results

General Election

Candidates
Major party candidates
Jim Courter, Republican, U.S. Representative
James Florio, Democratic, U.S. Representative

Other independent candidates 
Tom Fuscaldo, One Eye On, owner of a television antenna business
Daniel M. Karlan, Libertarian, computer programmer
Catherine Renee Sedwick, Socialist Workers
Michael Ziruolo, Better Affordable Government, trucking consultant

Campaign
Florio, who had run in the Democratic primary for Governor in 1977 and lost in an extremely close general election in 1981 to outgoing Governor Thomas Kean, stressed in this campaign that he would govern closer to Kean than the conservative Congressman Courter and that despite the economic growth under Kean and the Reagan administrations, he would lead an active government to combat potential overdevelopment and pollution. Following a Supreme Court ruling that would allow states to impose regulations on abortions, the pro-choice Florio won the votes of those in favor of abortion rights while Courter who comprised an anti-abortion voting record in Congress sought to moderate his views which led to distrust among voters. To moderate his positions, Florio promised a wider use of the state death penalty for drug crimes and not to raise taxes (the latter promise would be broken in 1990 when he signed a $2.8-billion tax increase which would lead to his 1993 defeat).

Results