The 1977 New Jersey Gubernatorial Election. With Governor Phil Murphy(D-NJ) looking like an almost shoe-in for reelection it would be good to look back at the last election that had an NJ Democratic Governor Reelected.
Stronger in the WWC south than in his first election and the last Democrat to win the predominantly rural Warren and Henderson counties, Byrne won reelection with 55.71% to Bateman's 41.81%, and in what has to be a worrying trend for Gov Murphy, Byrne Underperformed his 66.40%-32.13% Landslide. As all democratic governors have done since, resulting in them loosing reelection.