1984 United States Senate election in New Jersey
November 6, 1984
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Bradley: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | |||||||||||||||||
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| Elections in New Jersey |
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The 1984 United States Senate election in New Jersey was held on November 6, 1984. Incumbent Democrat Bill Bradley defeated Republican nominee Mary V. Mochary with 64.16% of the vote, winning every county in the state.
To date, this is the most recent time Hunterdon, Sussex, and Warren counties were won by a Democrat in a statewide election. This is the first election since 1888 that a Democrat was re-elected to this seat, and the first time ever that they were popularly re-elected to this seat.
Primary elections
Primary elections were held on June 5, 1984.[1]
Democratic primary
Candidates
- Bill Bradley, incumbent U.S. Senator
- Elliot Greenspan, perennial candidate
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill Bradley (incumbent) | 404,301 | 92.95% | |
| Democratic | Elliot Greenspan | 30,680 | 7.05% | |
| Total votes | 434,981 | 100.00% | ||
Republican primary
Candidates
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mary V. Mochary | 111,851 | 61.37% | |
| Republican | Robert J. Morris | 70,418 | 38.63% | |
| Total votes | 182,269 | 100.00% | ||
General election
Candidates
- Bill Bradley, incumbent Senator since 1979 (Democratic)
- Jasper C. Gould (Independent)
- James T. Hagen (Independent)
- Harold F. Leiendecker (Libertarian)
- Jules Levin (Socialist Labor)
- Mary V. Mochary, mayor of Montclair (Republican)
- Priscilla Schenk (Socialist Workers)
Campaign
Mochary was forced to suspend her campaign in October due to her husband's life-threatening illness. She traveled with her husband to Stanford, California for an experimental heart transplant.[2]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bill Bradley (incumbent) | 1,986,644 | 64.16% | ||
| Republican | Mary V. Mochary | 1,080,100 | 34.88% | ||
| Independent | James T. Hagen | 10,409 | 0.34% | ||
| Libertarian | Harold F. Leiendecker | 7,135 | 0.23% | ||
| Socialist Labor | Jules Levin | 6,053 | 0.20% | ||
| Socialist Workers | Priscilla Schenk | 3,224 | 0.10% | ||
| Independent | Jasper C. Gould | 2,891 | 0.09% | ||
| Total votes | 3,096,456 | 100.00% | |||
| Democratic hold | |||||
Results by county
| County | Bradley votes | Bradley % | Mochary votes | Mochary % | Other votes | Other % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic | 47,478 | 60.9% | 29,447 | 37.8% | 1,020 | 1.3% |
| Bergen | 262,694 | 63.6% | 148,080 | 35.9% | 2,015 | 0.5% |
| Burlington | 89,463 | 63.5% | 50,653 | 36.0% | 737 | 0.4% |
| Camden | 137,827 | 68.1% | 60,581 | 31.3% | 1,234 | 0.6% |
| Cape May | 21,859 | 54.1% | 18,365 | 45.4% | 209 | 0.6% |
| Cumberland | 29,520 | 61.0% | 17,738 | 36.7% | 1,097 | 2.3% |
| Essex | 219,902 | 73.4% | 76,179 | 25.4% | 3,530 | 1.1% |
| Gloucester | 56,072 | 64.8% | 30,096 | 34.8% | 421 | 0.5% |
| Hudson | 137,352 | 68.6% | 60,844 | 30.4% | 1,978 | 0.9% |
| Hunterdon | 20,864 | 53.1% | 17,839 | 45.4% | 611 | 1.5% |
| Mercer | 94,782 | 72.0% | 35,745 | 27.2% | 1,036 | 0.8% |
| Middlesex | 172,478 | 66.4% | 83,617 | 32.2% | 3,699 | 1.4% |
| Monmouth | 142,084 | 63.4% | 80,093 | 35.7% | 1,914 | 0.8% |
| Morris | 106,678 | 57.5% | 77,683 | 41.9% | 1,154 | 0.6% |
| Ocean | 94,076 | 54.7% | 75,923 | 44.1% | 2,033 | 1.2% |
| Passaic | 62.0% | 101,217 | 59,468 | 36.4% | 2,606 | 1.6% |
| Salem | 15,900 | 60.7% | 10,099 | 38.5% | 207 | 0.8% |
| Somerset | 55,757 | 58.0% | 38,862 | 40.4% | 1,562 | 1.6% |
| Sussex | 25,334 | 53.8% | 21,494 | 45.6% | 264 | 0.5% |
| Union | 142,320 | 65.0% | 74,446 | 34.0% | 2,102 | 0.9% |
| Warren | 18,987 | 58.4% | 13,248 | 40.7% | 283 | 0.9% |
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
References
- ^ a b c "1984 Primary Election Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1984. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
- ^ Haitch, Richard (February 17, 1985). "Follow-up on the News: Mochary Sequel". The New York Times. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
- ^ "1984 General Election Results" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1984. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
- ^ "NJ DOS - Division of Elections - Election Results Archive". nj.gov. Retrieved January 16, 2025.