The 1916 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 1916. Republican nominee Walter Evans Edge defeated Democratic nominee H. Otto Wittpenn with 55.44 percent of the total vote.
Democratic primary Candidates H. Otto Wittpenn, former mayor of Jersey City
Results Wittpenn, who had run for Governor in 1913 but withdrew in favor of James Fairman Fielder,Biography of James Fairman Fielder (PDF), New Jersey State Library was unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
Republican primary Candidates Austen Colgate, former state senator for Essex County Walter Evans Edge, state senator for Atlantic County George L. Record, attorney and perennial candidate from Jersey City
Campaign During the primary, Edge was the beneficiary of a gentleman's agreement between Atlantic County Republican boss Enoch L. Johnson and Hudson County Democratic boss Frank Hague, who feared the election of Otto Wittpenn, a reformer and Hague's political rival.Johnson, Nelson. Boardwalk Empire, Medford, N.J., Plexus Publishing, 2002 Historians disagree over the contours of Johnson and Hague's arrangement, but in 1916, Hague directed his supporters in Hudson County to cross over and vote for Edge in the Republican primary.
Results Edge carried the state narrowly over Colgate, with Atlantic County accounting for more than his statewide margin. More than one-quarter of Colgate's vote came from his native Essex County.
By county CountyEdge %Edge votesColgate %Colgate votesRecord %Record votesAtlantic 76.01%7,32919.19%1,8504.80%463Bergen 32.12%3,89747.69%5,78720.19%2,450Burlington 48.75%3,71541.27%3,1459.99%761Camden 51.48%8,83929.50%5,06619.02%3,266Cape May 76.18%2,25115.63%4628.19%242Cumberland 49.62%2,09931.63%1,33818.75%793Essex 29.31%10,11758.53%20,19912.16%4,196Gloucester 70.01%2,48614.90%52915.09%536Hudson 34.00%5,13854.69%8,26411.32%1,710Hunterdon 64.89%97212.88%19322.23%333Mercer 39.77%4,15228.16%2,94032.07%3,348Middlesex 35.41%1,84947.84%2,49816.76%875Monmouth 37.99%2,48145.46%2,96916.55%1,081Morris 43.91%3,15336.11%2,59319.97%1,434Ocean 49.49%1,41938.58%1,10611.93%342Passaic 42.68%7,81836.95%6,76820.37%3,731Salem 71.89%1,05113.47%19714.64%214Somerset 44.54%1,54534.53%1,19820.93%726Sussex 45.51%59836.38%47818.11%238Union 43.66%4,68942.72%4,58913.62%1,463Warren 40.38%63428.79%45230.83%484
General election Candidates John C. Butterworth (Socialist Labor) Walter Evans Edge, state senator for Atlantic County (Republican) Frederick Krafft, business manager of the New Yorker Volkszeitung (Socialist) Harry Vaughan (Prohibition) H. Otto Wittpenn, former mayor of Jersey City (Democratic)
Campaign In the general election, Frank Hague is believed to have discouraged fellow Democrats from voting for Wittpenn.
Results
References