Virginia:General election •Primaries •Campaign finance •Campaign advertisements •Other elections
	New Jersey:General election •Primaries •Campaign finance •Campaign advertisements •Other elections

State Executive Officials

State executive elections by position and year:

Select a position:GubernatorialLieutenant gubernatorialAttorney GeneralSecretary of StateState executive officialSelect year:2025202420232022202120202019201820172016201520142013201220112010Reset

The governor, or chief executive officer of the state, is the only state executive office other than theattorney general that exists in every state in the country. But unlike the attorney general, which is the state's chief legal officer and is chosen by voters in only 43 states, the governor is elected by popular vote in all 50.

Both elections were held onNovember 7, 2017. In New Jersey, the primary election was held onJune 6, 2017, while in Virginia the primary was held onJune 13, 2017. Their previous gubernatorial elections were held in2013. Both states'lieutenant governors,Ralph Northam (D) ofVirginia andKim Guadagno (R) ofNew Jersey, were running for governor in the 2017 elections.

As of June 2017, the overall race rating from five separate outlets was in New Jersey and in Virginia.^[1]Trifecta andtriplex control of both states was at stake in the elections.

Election information

Gubernatorial Election Information, 2017
State	Trifecta status (before)	Triplex status (before)	Incumbent	Incumbent running?	Winner	Partisan switch?	Trifecta status (after)	Triplex status (after)
New Jersey	Divided government	Republican triplex	Chris Christie	No (termed-out)	Phil Murphy	Yes	Democratic trifecta	Democratic triplex
Virginia	Divided government	Democratic triplex	Terry McAuliffe	No (termed-out)	Ralph Northam	No	Divided government	Democratic triplex

New Jersey

See also:New Jersey gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2017

Heading into theNew Jersey election, the incumbent was two-termGov.Chris Christie (R), who was prevented from seeking re-election due toterm limits. Christie was first elected in 2009 and was re-elected in2013. At the time of the election,New Jersey had been underdivided government since Christie first took office in 2010. Since theDemocratic Party controlled both houses of theNew Jersey State Legislature, Democratic victory in the gubernatorial election turnedNew Jersey into a Democratic trifecta.New Jersey had been won by theDemocratic candidate in each of the past five presidential election cycles, and has been won twice by aDemocratic candidate and three times by aRepublican candidate in the past five gubernatorial election cycles.See also:New Jersey gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2017

New Jersey held an election forgovernor andlieutenant governor onNovember 7, 2017. GovernorChris Christie (R) wasterm-limited and ineligible to run for re-election. New Jersey elects its governor and lieutenant governor together on a joint ticket.

The general election took place onNovember 7, 2017. The primary election was held onJune 6, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in the primary election was April 3, 2017.

The following candidates ran in the election for Governor and Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey.^[2]

New Jersey Gubernatorial and Lieutenant Gubernatorial Election, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Phil Murphy/Sheila Oliver	56.03%	1,203,110
	Republican	Kim Guadagno/Carlos Rendo	41.89%	899,583
	Independent	Gina Genovese/Derel Stroud	0.57%	12,294
	Libertarian	Peter Rohrman/Karese Laguerre	0.49%	10,531
	Green	Seth Kaper-Dale/Lisa Durden	0.47%	10,053
	Constitution	Matt Riccardi	0.32%	6,864
	Independent	Vincent Ross/April Johnson	0.23%	4,980
Total Votes (6385/6385 precincts reporting)				2,147,415
Source:New Jersey Division of Elections

Kim Guadagno defeatedJack Ciattarelli,Hirsh Singh,Joseph Rudy Rullo, andSteve Rogers in the Republican primary.^[3]

New Jersey Republican Gubernatorial Primary, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Kim Guadagno	46.82%	113,846
Jack Ciattarelli	31.08%	75,556
Hirsh Singh	9.76%	23,728
Joseph Rudy Rullo	6.51%	15,816
Steve Rogers	5.84%	14,187
Total Votes		243,133
Source:New Jersey Division of Elections

Phil Murphy defeatedJim Johnson,John Wisniewski,Ray Lesniak,Bill Brennan, andMark Zinna in the Democratic primary.^[3]

New Jersey Democratic Gubernatorial Primary, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Phil Murphy	48.42%	243,643
Jim Johnson	21.91%	110,250
John Wisniewski	21.57%	108,532
Ray Lesniak	4.83%	24,318
Bill Brennan	2.24%	11,263
Mark Zinna	1.04%	5,213
Total Votes		503,219
Source:New Jersey Division of Elections

Virginia

See also:Virginia gubernatorial election, 2017

Heading into theVirginia election, the incumbent was one-termGov.Terry McAuliffe (D), who was prevented from seeking re-election due toterm limits. McAuliffe was first elected in2013. At the time of the election,Virginia had been underdivided government since McAuliffe first took office in 2014. Since theRepublican Party controlled both houses of theVirginia State Legislature, Republican victory in the gubernatorial election would have turnedVirginia into aRepublican trifecta.Virginia had been won three times by theDemocratic candidate and twice by theRepublican candidate in the past five presidential election cycles and the past five gubernatorial election cycles.See also:Virginia gubernatorial election, 2017

Virginia held an election forgovernor onNovember 7, 2017. GovernorTerry McAuliffe (D) wasterm-limited and ineligible to run for re-election to a consecutive term.

The general election took place onNovember 7, 2017. A primary election was held onJune 13, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in the primary election was March 30, 2017.

Ralph Northam (D) defeatedEd Gillespie (R) andCliff Hyra (Libertarian) in the election for Governor of Virginia.^[4]

Virginia Gubernatorial Election, 2017
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Ralph Northam	53.93%	1,409,175
	Republican	Ed Gillespie	45.00%	1,175,731
	Libertarian	Cliff Hyra	1.07%	27,987
Total Votes				2,612,893
Source:Virginia Department of Elections

Ralph Northam defeatedTom Perriello in the Democratic primary for Governor of Virginia.^[5]

Virginia Democratic Gubernatorial Primary, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ralph Northam	55.90%	303,541
Tom Perriello	44.10%	239,505
Total Votes		543,046
Source:The New York Times

Ed Gillespie defeatedCorey Stewart andFrank Wagner in the Republican primary for Governor of Virginia.^[5]

Virginia Republican Gubernatorial Primary, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Ed Gillespie	43.71%	160,100
Corey Stewart	42.53%	155,780
Frank Wagner	13.76%	50,394
Total Votes		366,274
Source:The New York Times

Comparison

Overview

Heading into the 2017 elections, bothNew Jersey andVirginia were in a state ofdivided government, with one party holding majorities in both houses of the state legislature while the other party controlled the governor's mansion. At the time of the election,New Jersey had aRepublican governor andDemocratic majorities in both houses of the state legislature, while the pattern was reversed inVirginia. In addition, both states hada partisan triplex, meaning that the offices ofgovernor,attorney general, andsecretary of state were controlled by the same party.

BothGov.Chris Christie (R) ofNew Jersey andGov.Terry McAuliffe (D) ofVirginia were prevented from seeking re-election in 2017 byterm limits. In both states, thelieutenant governor sought election to the governor's office, withLt. Gov.Kim Guadagno (R) ofNew Jersey andLt. Gov.Ralph Northam (D) ofVirginia securing their parties' nominations in the June primary elections. While Northam was successful in the general election in Virginia, Guadagno was defeated byPhil Murphy.

Gubernatorial elections in New Jersey and Virginia, 1997-2013

The past five gubernatorial election cycles in Virginia and New Jersey have resulted in fiveRepublican victories and fiveDemocratic victories. InNew Jersey, aRepublican candidate has won three of the past five elections, with the average result across the past five cycles being a 0.3 percentRepublican victory. InVirginia, aDemocratic candidate has won three of the past five elections. However, all threeDemocratic victories inVirginia were by less than a six percent margin, while bothRepublican victories were by margins over ten percent. Therefore, the average result across the past five election cycles inVirginia was a 3.4 percentRepublican victory.

In the ten elections examined, the candidate from the same political party as the sitting president has been defeated in nine, with the2013 election ofTerry McAuliffe asgovernor ofVirginia during the presidency ofBarack Obama as the only exception. In the 1997 elections, held during the presidency ofBill Clinton, the average result across the two states was a 7.2 percentRepublican victory. The 2001 and 2005 elections, held during the presidency ofGeorge W. Bush, delivered average margins of victory of 10.0 percent and 8.1 percent to theDemocratic candidate, respectively. Finally, in 2009 and 2013, whileBarack Obama was president,Republican candidates won by respective margins of 10.5 percent and 9.8 percent.

Election results (Governor of New Jersey and Virginia), 1997-2013
Year	First-place New Jersey candidate	First-place New Jersey candidate margin of victory	First-place Virginia candidate	First-place Virginia candidate margin of victory	Overall margin of victory
2013	Chris Christie	22.1%	Terry McAuliffe	2.5%	9.8%
2009	Chris Christie	3.6%	Bob McDonnell	17.3%	10.5%
2005	Jon Corzine	10.5%	Tim Kaine	5.7%	8.1%
2001	Jim McGreevey	14.7%	Mark Warner	5.2%	10.0%
1997	Christine Todd Whitman	1.1%	Jim Gilmore	13.2%	7.2%
Overall	Republican	0.3%	Republican	3.4%	1.9%

Presidential elections in New Jersey and Virginia, 2000-2016

The past five presidential election cycles in bothNew Jersey andVirginia have tended to favorDemocratic candidates, who won in both states in 2008, 2012, and 2016. In 2000 and 2004,George W. Bush (R) won inVirginia whileNew Jersey went to theDemocratic candidate.Democratic candidates have won inNew Jersey by an average 14 percent margin across the previous five election cycles. InVirginia,George W. Bush's victories were by a larger margin thanBarack Obama's orHillary Clinton's, meaning that the average presidential election result inVirginia across the past five cycles has been a 0.2 percentRepublican victory.

Election results (President of the United States), New Jersey and Virginia 2000-2016
Year	First-place New Jersey candidate	First-place New Jersey candidate margin of victory	First-place Virginia candidate	First-place Virginia candidate margin of victory	Overall margin of victory
2016	Hillary Clinton	14.1%	Hillary Clinton	5.3%	9.7%
2012	Barack Obama	17.8%	Barack Obama	3.9%	10.9%
2008	Barack Obama	15.5%	Barack Obama	6.3%	10.9%
2004	John Kerry	6.7%	George W. Bush	8.2%	0.8%
2000	Al Gore	15.8%	George W. Bush	8.1%	3.9%
Overall	Democratic	14.0%	Republican	0.2%	6.9%

Pivot counties

Ballotpedia has identified 206 counties that voted forDonald Trump (R) in2016 after voting forBarack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. There are two of thesepivot counties inNew Jersey and five inVirginia.

Primary results

Of Virginia and New Jersey's seven pivot counties, four--Salem County, New Jersey,Caroline County, Virginia,Essex County, Virginia, andWestmoreland County, Virginia--were won by candidates who would go on to lose the primary election in both party's primaries. In addition,Gloucester County, New Jersey, went toJack Ciattarelli in the Republican primary election despite his statewide loss toKim Guadagno. Across the 14Democratic andRepublican primary elections held in the seven examined pivot counties in 2017, the eventual statewide winner was defeated in eight. All four statewide primary winners (Phil Murphy (D) andKim Guadagno (R) inNew Jersey andRalph Northam (D) andEd Gillespie (R) inVirginia) received a lower share of the vote in the average vote totals across pivot counties than they did in statewide results.

Party control in New Jersey and Virginia

Between 1992 and 2017, both major parties have held trifecta control ofNew Jersey andVirginia. During that period,New Jersey has spent six years under aDemocratic trifecta, eight years under aRepublican trifecta, and 12 years underdivided government. In comparison,Virginia has spent two years under aDemocratic trifecta, four years under aRepublican trifecta, and 20 years underdivided government. Heading into the 2017 elections, both states were under divided government.New Jersey had held this status sinceChris Christie was sworn into office in 2010, ending a six-year Democratic trifecta.Virginia had held this status sinceTerry McAuliffe was sworn into office in 2014, ending a two-year Republican trifecta. In addition, the office of governor tended to alternate control in both states. No single party has controlled the governor's mansion for more than eight years since 1970 in New Jersey and 1994 in Virginia.

InNew Jersey, theDemocratic victory replaced the state'sRepublican triplex with a Democratic triplex, since thegovernor of New Jersey has the power to appoint theattorney general andsecretary of state. Likewise, in Virginia, aRepublican victory would have ended the state'sDemocratic triplex. If this was paired with a Republican victory in theattorney general election, then Virginia would have become a Republican triplex, since thegovernor of Virginia has the power to appoint thesecretary of state.

Primary elections

See also:New Jersey gubernatorial primary election, 2017 andVirginia gubernatorial primary election, 2017

BothNew Jersey andVirginia held gubernatorial primary elections in June 2017. In both states, the sitting governor's party saw fewer candidates running in the primary. In New Jersey, there were fiveRepublican candidates to sixDemocratic candidates while in Virginia there were twoDemocratic candidates to threeRepublican candidates. TheNew Jersey primary elections were decided by wider margins of victory than those inVirginia. WhilePhil Murphy secured a 26.5 percent margin of victory andKim Guadagno won her primary by a 15.7 percent margin, in VirginiaRalph Northam won with an 11.8 percent margin of victory whileEd Gillespie won by a 1.2 percent margin.

Governor of New Jersey and Virginia (Democratic primary) - 2017
Virginia Candidate	Virginia Votes	Virginia Votes (%)	New Jersey Candidate	New Jersey Votes	New Jersey Votes (%)
Ralph Northam	303,541	55.90%	Phil Murphy	243,643	48.42%
Tom Perriello	239,505	44.10%	Jim Johnson	110,250	21.91%
			John Wisniewski	108,532	21.57%
			Ray Lesniak	24,318	4.83%
			Bill Brennan	11,263	2.24%
			Mark Zinna	5,213	1.04%

Governor of New Jersey and Virginia (Republican primary) - 2017
Virginia Candidate	Virginia Votes	Virginia Votes (%)	New Jersey Candidate	New Jersey Votes	New Jersey Votes (%)
Ed Gillespie	160,100	43.71%	Kim Guadagno	113,846	46.82%
Corey Stewart	155,780	42.53%	Jack Ciattarelli	75,556	31.08%
Frank Wagner	50,394	13.76%	Hirsh Singh	23,728	9.76%
			Joseph Rudy Rullo	15,816	6.51%
			Steve Rogers	14,187	5.84%

See also

External links

Suggest a link

• Office of the Governor of Virginia
• Office of the Governor of New Jersey
• Office of the Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey

Footnotes

v • e 2017 state executive official elections Governor New Jersey •Virginia Lieutenant Governor New Jersey •Virginia Attorney General Virginia Superintendent Wisconsin Treasurer Louisiana Public Service Commission Louisiana Election information Ballot access for major and minor party candidates •Filing deadlines and primary dates