The 1953 New Jersey gubernatorial election was held on November 3, 1953. Incumbent governor Alfred E. Driscoll was constitutionally prohibited from seeking a third term in office. Democratic former State Senator Robert B. Meyner defeated Republican businessman Paul L. Troast winning 53.17% of the vote.

Primary elections were held on April 21, 1953.

Republican primary Candidates Malcolm Forbes, state senator from Somerset County Kenneth Hand, state senator from Union County Charles Richard Klein, senior guard at Rahway State Prison Frederick F. Richardson, former mayor of New Brunswick Fred E. Shepard, state assemblyman from Elizabeth Paul L. Troast, businessman and chairman of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority Alvin W. Van Schoick, Long Branch golf caddy

Withdrew Clifford Case, U.S. representative from Rahway

Campaign The campaign was primarily a contest between businessman Paul Troast and state senator and billionaire magazine publisher Malcolm Forbes. Troast campaigned on a platform of spending cuts and was considered the favorite by the final weeks of the campaign. He had the support of the Driscoll administration and virtually every major Republican leader, including 18 out of 21 county organizations, while Forbes ran as an outsider anti-administration candidate.

Results Troast won handily. Forbes carried his home county of Somerset and native Passaic by large margins, but trailed nearly everywhere else.

Democratic primary Candidates Robert B. Meyner, attorney and former state senator from Warren County Alexander F. Ormsby, Jersey City attorney and former judge of the Court of Common Pleas Elmer H. Wene, chicken breeder, former U.S. Representative from Cumberland County, and nominee for Governor in 1949 John J. Winberry, Passaic attorney and former special assistant New Jersey Attorney General

Campaign The primary campaign was a tight contest between the previous nominee, former Congressman Elmer H. Wene and former State Senator Robert B. Meyner. It was the first competitive Democratic primary for governor in at least 25 years. Meyner had the support of the state party establishment and a base in North Jersey, while Wene enjoyed an edge among rank-and-file voters and higher name recognition owing to his 1949 campaign.

The Democratic campaign was insurgent, with both front-runners focusing on gambling and criminal enforcement scandals in the incumbent Republican Driscoll administration.

Results On election night, the results were inconclusive and neither candidate claimed clear victory; Meyner led by about 6,000, owing to a large margin in Hudson County, but most of the outstanding vote was from Wene's base in rural South Jersey. After Meyner was declared the victor following a recount, Wene refused to support him, calling the Jersey City results "questionable."

General election Candidates Henry B. Krajewski, pig farmer and candidate for president in 1952 (Veterans Bonus Now) Robert B. Meyner, State Senator for Warren County (Democratic) Albert Ronis (Socialist Labor) Clendenin Ryan, publisher of the New American Mercury (Independent Voters) Paul L. Troast, businessman and chair of the New Jersey Turnpike Authority (Republican)

Campaign The race received national attention as a test of the popularity of the new Dwight Eisenhower presidency, as the only other state election holding elections, Virginia, was safely Democratic.

Late in the campaign, Meyner suffered a setback when Democratic former mayor of Jersey Frank Hague Eggers endorsed Troast over his opposition to current mayor John V. Kenny, Meyner's chief backer. A week after that, Democratic runner-up and prior nominee Elmer H. Wene refused to support Meyner's candidacy, referring to the result in Jersey City, and therefore the primary overall, as "questionable." Though he did not endorse Troast, Wene said that "the election of a Democratic candidate would in truth be the election of Mayor Kenny and would destroy the integrity of our state government." State party chairman Charles R. Howell referred to Wene's statement as "pathetic" and accused Republicans of an alliance with former Democratic boss Frank Hague.

Results

By county CountyRobert B. MeynerDemocraticPaul L. TroastRepublicanVarious candidatesOther partiesMarginTotal votes cast # % # % # % # % Atlantic 19,481 35.42% 35,452 64.46% 69 1.12% −15,971 −29.04% 55,002 Bergen 110,530 47.95% 115,605 50.15% 4,365 1.90% −5,075 −2.20% 230,500 Burlington 23,236 53.11% 20,403 46.63% 114 0.26% 2,833 6.48% 43,753 Camden 68,183 61.52% 41,687 37.62% 952 0.86% 26,496 23.90% 110,822 Cape May 6,531 35.26% 11,957 64.56% 34 0.18% -5,426 −29.30% 18,522 Cumberland 14,420 47.64% 15,716 51.92% 134 0.44% −1,296 −4.28% 30,270 Essex 141,996 50.99% 127,782 45.89% 8,692 3.12% 14,214 5.10% 278,470 Gloucester 18,012 49.51% 18,216 50.07% 152 0.42% −204 −0.56% 36,380 Hudson 160,425 61.48% 89,501 34.30% 11,014 4.22% 70,924 27.18% 260,940 Hunterdon 8,513 52.26% 7,628 46.82% 150 0.92% 885 5.44% 16,291 Mercer 50,624 63.41% 28,351 35.51% 856 1.07% 22,273 27.90% 79,831 Middlesex 72,592 62.33% 40,685 34.93% 3,189 2.74% 31,907 27.40% 116,466 Monmouth 38,615 47.01% 43,046 52.41% 474 0.58% -4,431 -5.40% 82,135 Morris 26,899 42.11% 36,100 56.51% 884 1.38% −9,201 −14.40% 63,883 Ocean 9,302 36.03% 16,326 63.24% 187 0.42% -7,024 -27.21% 25,815 Passaic 65,852 50.89% 60,599 46.83% 2,945 2.28% 5,253 4.06% 129,396 Salem 9,919 56.18% 7,694 43.58% 43 0.24% 2,225 12.60% 17,656 Somerset 17,921 52.29% 15,737 45.91% 617 1.80% 2,184 6.38% 34,275 Sussex 6,727 46.53% 7,566 52.33% 165 1.14% -839 -5.80% 14,458 Union 76,144 53.63% 61,973 43.65% 3,865 2.72% 14,171 9.98% 141,982 Warren 16,788 69.53% 7,224 29.92% 133 0.55% 9,564 39.61% 24,145Totals 962,710 53.16% 809,068 44.68% 39,034 2.16% 153,642 8.48% 1,810,812

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican Atlantic Cumberland Gloucester

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic Essex Somerset Union

References