James Florio

★ Governor

Born: August 29, 1937
Died: September 25, 2022
Age at death: 85
Home state: New Jersey
Party: Democratic
On the ballot: 1974–1993

Career timeline

1974Rep 1976Rep 1978Rep 1980Rep 1981Gov 1982Rep

1984Rep 1986Rep 1988Rep 1989Gov 1993Gov

9-2

RecordWin–Loss

Total Popular Votes

Florio4.7M

Opponents3.6M

Elections run

Between 1974 and 1993, James Florio ran in 11 elections across 2 offices (U.S. House and Governor), winning 9 and losing 2. Florio's biggest single-election total was 1,379,937 votes, in the 1989 governor election in New Jersey. Florio's closest win came in the 1974 U.S. House election in New Jersey's District 1, decided by 26,699 votes.

Browse every governor election in New Jersey, every U.S. House race in New Jersey's District 1, or all 1993 governor races.

How many votes has James Florio received?

James Florio has received 4,703,190 popular votes across 11 U.S. elections, with a career record of 9–2.

Election history

James Florio’s election history
Year	Office	Result	Votes	Opponent(s)
1993	GovernorNew Jersey	Lost	1,210,03148.29%	Christine Todd Whitman
1989	GovernorNew Jersey	Won	1,379,93761.2%	Jim Courter
1988	U.S. HouseNew Jersey	Won	141,98869.89%	Frank A. Cristaudo Richard Bartucci
1986	U.S. HouseNew Jersey	Won	93,49775.64%	Frederick A. Busch Jr. (head-to-head) Jerry Zeldin (head-to-head)
1984	U.S. HouseNew Jersey	Won	152,12571.86%	Frederick A. Busch Jr. (head-to-head) Jerry Zeldin (head-to-head)
1982	U.S. HouseNew Jersey	Won	110,57073.28%	John A. Dramesi Jerry Zeldin (head-to-head) Patrick J. McCann
1981	GovernorNew Jersey	Lost	1,144,20249.38%	Thomas Kean
1980	U.S. HouseNew Jersey	Won	147,35276.71%	Scott L. Sibert Thomas S. Watson Jr. Ronald K. Wishart Julius Levin (head-to-head)
1978	U.S. HouseNew Jersey	Won	106,09679.4%	Robert Mark Deitch Julius Levin (head-to-head)
1976	U.S. HouseNew Jersey	Won	136,62470.1%	Joseph I. McCullough Jr. Vernon A. Smith Thomas C. Sloan Robert Bowen
1974	U.S. HouseNew Jersey	Won	80,76857.5%	John E Hunt Perry Bradley S Kirsch Elizabeth L Drevs Raymond Carotenuto Julius Levin Pedro J Torres

Identity & sources. Identity verified against the Congressional Bioguide (F000215) and Wikidata (Q885569). Election results come from official certified totals and the MIT Election Data and Science Lab; see methodology.

Cite this profile. PolitiFinder, “James Florio: election history & vote totals.” https://politifinder.com/p/james-florio. Accessed [date].

Compiled by PolitiFinder. Election results from official certified sources and the MIT Election Lab. See Data & sources and methodology. Data last verified July 28, 2026.