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2017 New Jersey elections

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A general election was held in the U.S. state of New Jersey on November 7, 2017. Primary elections were held on June 6. All elected offices at the state level were on the ballot in this election cycle, including Governor and Lieutenant Governor for four-year terms, all 80 seats in the New Jersey General Assembly for two-year terms, and all 40 seats in the State Senate for four-year terms. In addition to the gubernatorial and State Legislative elections, numerous county offices and Freeholders in addition to municipal offices were up for election. There were two statewide ballot questions and some counties and municipalities also had a local ballot question. Non-partisan local elections, some school board elections, and some fire district elections were also held throughout the year.

Governor

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2017 New Jersey gubernatorial election

← 2013 November 7, 2017 2021 →
Turnout38.5%[1] (Decrease1.1%)
 
Nominee Phil Murphy Kim Guadagno
Party Democratic Republican
Running mate Sheila Oliver Carlos Rendo
Popular vote 1,203,110 899,583
Percentage 56.0% 41.9%

Murphy:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%      >90%
Guadagno:      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      >90%

Governor before election

Chris Christie
Republican

Elected Governor

Phil Murphy
Democratic

Legislature

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State Senate

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2017 New Jersey State Senate election

← 2013 November 7, 2017 2021 →

All 40 seats in the New Jersey Senate
21 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Steve Sweeney Thomas Kean Jr.
Party Democratic Republican
Leader since January 12, 2010 January 8, 2008
Leader's seat 3rd district 21st district
Last election 24 16
Seats won 25 15
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 1
Popular vote 1,185,420 802,418
Percentage 59.5% 40.3%
Swing Increase 12.1% Decrease 11.8%

Results by district
     Democratic hold      Democratic gain
     Republican hold      Republican gain

Senate President before election

Steve Sweeney
Democratic

Elected Senate President

Steve Sweeney
Democratic

All 40 seats of the New Jersey Senate were up for election. Prior to the elections, Democrats held a 24–16 majority in the upper house. Democrats picked up an open seat in District 7 and defeated a Republican incumbent in District 11, while Republicans defeated an appointed Democratic incumbent in District 2. Overall, this resulted in Democrats having a net gain of one seat, increasing their majority to 25–15.

Overall results

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25 15
Democratic Republican
Parties Candidates Seats Popular Vote
2013 2017 +/- Strength Vote % Change
Democratic 40 24 25 Increase1 63% 1,177,295 59.1% Increase11.7%
Republican 37 16 15 Decrease1 38% 810,543 40.7% Decrease11.4%
Green 1 0 0 Steady 0% 1,306 0.1% N/A
Libertarian 1 0 0 Steady 0% 574 0.03% Decrease0.02%
Independent 4 0 0 Steady 0% 2,545 0.1% Decrease0.4%
Total 83 40 40 0 100.0% 1,992,263 100.0% -

General Assembly

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New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2017

← 2015 November 7, 2017 2019 →

All 80 seats in the New Jersey General Assembly
41 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Vincent Prieto
(stepped down)
Jon Bramnick
Party Democratic Republican
Leader since January 14, 2014 January 17, 2012
Leader's seat 32nd (Secaucus) 21st (Westfield)
Last election 52 28
Seats won 54 26
Seat change Increase 2 Decrease 2
Popular vote 2,266,879 1,613,865
Percentage 58.1% 41.4%
Swing Increase 4.8% Decrease 4.5%

Results:
     Democratic hold      Democratic gain
     Republican hold

Speaker before election

Vincent Prieto
Democratic

Elected Speaker

Craig Coughlin
Democratic

All 80 seats of the New Jersey General Assembly were up for election. Prior to the elections, Democrats held a 52–28 majority in the lower house. Overall, the Democrats increased their majority by 2 to a supermajority at 54–26, thanks to holding all their seats as well as picking up open seats in District 2 and District 16.

Overall results

[edit]
54 26
Democratic Republican
Parties Candidates Seats Popular Vote
2015 2017 +/- Strength Vote % Change
Democratic 80 52 54 Increase2 68% 2,266,879 58.1% Increase4.8%
Republican 78 28 26 Decrease2 33% 1,613,865 41.4% Decrease4.5%
Green 4 0 0 Steady 0% 4,828 0.1% Decrease0.3%
Libertarian 4 0 0 Steady 0% 2,804 0.1% Steady0.0%
Solidarity 1 0 0 Steady 0% 821 0.02% N/A
Independent 14 0 0 Steady 0% 13,537 0.3% Steady0.0%
Total 181 80 80 0 100.0% 3,902,734 100.0% -

Ballot measures

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Two statewide questions were on the ballot. Both were approved by voters:

  • Public Question Number 1, a bond measure that would borrow $125 million to fund capital projects for public libraries.[2][3]
  • Public Question Number 2, a constitutional amendment that would require money collected from environmental contamination lawsuits to be used for cleanup and restoration efforts.[4][5]

Polling

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Question 1
Poll source Date(s)

administered

Sample

size

Margin of error Yes Green tickY No Red XN Undecided
Stockton University October 18–24, 2017 525 LV ± 4.3% 56% 39% 5%
Stockton University October 4–12, 2017 585 LV ± 4.1% 48% 45% 6%
Question 2
Poll source Date(s)

administered

Sample

size

Margin of error Yes Green tickY No Red XN Undecided
Stockton University October 18–24, 2017 525 LV ± 4.3% 87% 9% 4%
Stockton University October 4–12, 2017 585 LV ± 4.1% 79% 13% 8%

Results

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Question 1[6]
Choice Votes %
Yes Green tickY 970,334 60.03
No Red XN 646,110 39.97
Total votes 1,616,444 100
Question 2[7]
Choice Votes %
Yes Green tickY 1,093,448 69.02
No Red XN 490,763 30.98
Total votes 1,584,211 100

References

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  1. ^ "Total Number of Registered Voters, Ballots Cast, Ballots Rejected, Percentage of Ballots Cast and the Total Number of Election Districts in New Jersey" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 29, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 29, 2017.
  2. ^ Reitmeyer, John (July 25, 2017). "ONE FOR THE BOOKS: $125M LIBRARY BOND ISSUE ON NOVEMBER BALLOT". NJ Spotlight. Retrieved August 17, 2017.
  3. ^ "PUBLIC QUESTION NO. 1" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  4. ^ Gregory, Phil (December 20, 2016). "N.J. voters to decide on disbursing environmental damage funds". newsworks. Archived from the original on February 23, 2017. Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  5. ^ "PUBLIC QUESTION NO. 2" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  6. ^ "Official List, Public Question Results For 11/07/2017--GENERAL ELECTION" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 29, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
  7. ^ "Official List, Public Question Results For 11/07/2017--GENERAL ELECTION" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 29, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2017.