1981 New Jersey gubernatorial election
The 1981 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1981. Republican Assembly Speaker Thomas Kean narrowly defeated Democratic U.S. Representative James Florio with 49.46% of the vote following a recount of the ballots. The difference between the two was less than 2,000 votes out of more than 2 million cast. As of 2022, this remains the closest gubernatorial contest in New Jersey history and the last time a non-incumbent Republican defeated a non-incumbent Democrat to become Governor. Primary elections were held on June 2, 1981. Speaker of the Assembly Thomas Kean  and U.S. Representative James Florio won narrow plurality margins over crowded fields in the Republican and Democratic primaries, respectively. Background. After narrowly surviving a primary challenge in 1977, Governor Brendan Byrne was re-elected to a second term in a come-from-behind victory over State Senator Raymond Bateman. However, Byrne was ineligible to run for a third term due to term limits. General election. Voter intimidation. State Democrats accused the Republican National Committee of intimidating minority voters in Newark, Camden, and Trenton by setting up the Ballot Security Task Force which sent out mailers to voters in these cities  and posted armed off-duty police officers and large signs at certain precincts. Results. The results of the initial ballot counting was close with Kean leading Florio by 1,677 votes. Two television networks had actually called the race for Florio at the time. A recount took place over the next month and Kean was certified the winner besting Florio by 1,797 votes out of over 2.3 million votes cast.