United States Senate election in New Jersey, 2000
|
|||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
County results
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||
The 2000 United States Senate election in New Jersey was held on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg decided to retire, rather than seeking a fourth term. The Democratic nominee, former CEO of Goldman Sachs Jon Corzine, defeated the Republican nominee, U.S. Representative Bob Franks, in a close election.
Senator Frank R. Lautenberg first elected to the Senate in 1982 in an upset victory over Rep. Millicent Fenwick (R-Bergen), had always been an underdog in all three bids for Senate, He beat Pete Dawkins in 1988 by a 54%-46% margin and held back a challenge from Chuck Haytaian by a smaller margin of 50%-47% However, Popular Governor Christine Todd Whitman was expected to challenge Lautenberg and opinion polls showed Lautenberg losing by a large margin, He retired but later regretted his decision because Gov. Whitman and Former Governor Tom Kean both declined to run for the Senate. Lautenberg would be elected to the state's other Senate Seat in 2002. Corzine spent $35 million of his fortunes into this primary election alone. when running against Jim Florio, who served as the 49th Governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. Governor Florio was unpopular during his tenure in office, most notably he signed a $2.8 Billion tax increase in 1990, It costed his party control of state government for a decade and cost the Governor his re-election bid in 1993, Corzine running as an outsider, Mr. Corzine was endorsed by State Senator Raymond Zane (D-Gloucester), State Senator Wayne Bryant (D-Camden), State Senator John Adler (D-Camden), U.S Representative Bob Menendez (D-Hudson) and U.S Senator Bob Torricelli (D-NJ) Florio was endorsed by the State Party, Assemblyman Joe Doria (D-Hudson) and Senator John Lynch (D-Middlesex) Corzine defeated Florio in the primary and then defeated Bob Franks in the general election.
Franks, a moderate Republican, attacked Corzine for "trying to buy the election and of advocating big-government spending programs that the nation can ill afford." Corzine accused Franks of wanting to dismantle the Social Security system because he supported Governor George W. Bush's partial privatization plan.
...
Wikipedia