The 2000 United States Senate election in New Jersey was held on November 7, 2000. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg retired rather than seeking a fourth term. Democratic nominee Jon Corzine, former CEO of Goldman Sachs, defeated the Republican U.S. Representative Bob Franks in a close election.
Primary elections were held on June 7. Corzine defeated former Governor Jim Florio in the Democratic primary by a wide margin after a hard-fought campaign in which Corzine spent over $35 million of his own money. Franks narrowly defeated State Senator William Gormley to capture the Republican nomination. As of 2023, this is the last time that a non-Hispanic won the Class 1 Senate seat in New Jersey.
Background
Incumbent Senator Frank R. Lautenberg was first elected in 1982 in an upset victory over Representative Millicent Fenwick. In his two re-election bids, Lautenberg beat Pete Dawkins in 1988 by a 54%-46% margin and held back a challenge from Assembly Speaker Chuck Haytaian by a smaller margin of 50%-47% in 1994.
In 2000, popular Governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman was expected to challenge Lautenberg, and opinion polls showed Lautenberg losing by a large margin to Whitman or popular former Governor Thomas Kean. Lautenberg announced his retirement, but both Whitman and Kean declined to run for the Senate. Lautenberg later regretted his decision[citation needed] and was elected to New Jersey's other Senate seat in 2002 after his colleague, Senator Robert Torricelli, was involved in a campaign finance scandal and prematurely ended his re-election campaign in disgrace.
Corzine spent $35 million of his fortunes into this primary election alone.[1][2]
During the campaign, Corzine made some controversial off-color statements. Emanuel Alfano, chairman of the Italian-American One Voice Committee, claimed that when introduced to a man with an Italian name who said he was in the construction business, Corzine quipped: "Oh, you make cement shoes!" Alfano also reported that when introduced to a lawyer named David Stein, Corzine said: "He's not Italian, is he? Oh, I guess he's your Jewish lawyer who is here to get the rest of you out of jail."[3] Corzine denied mentioning religion, but did not deny the quip about Italians, claiming that some of his own ancestors were probably Italian or maybe French.[4][5]
Governor Florio was unpopular during his tenure in office.[citation needed] He signed a $2.8 Billion tax increase in 1990, which resulted in Republicans winning control of the legislature in 1991, and his reelection loss in the 1993 gubernatorial election to Christine Todd Whitman.
Franks, a moderate Republican,[8] attacked Corzine for "trying to buy the election and of advocating big-government spending programs that the nation can ill afford." Corzine accused Franks of wanting to "dismantle" the Social Security system because he supported Governor George W. Bush's partial privatization plan.[9]
During the campaign, Corzine refused to release his income tax return records. He claimed an interest in doing so, but he cited a confidentiality agreement with Goldman Sachs. Skeptics argued that he should have followed the example of his predecessor Robert Rubin, who converted his equity stake into debt upon leaving Goldman.[10]
Corzine was accused of exchanging donations to black ministers for their endorsements after a foundation controlled by him and his wife donated $25,000 to an influential black church.[15] Rev. Reginald T. Jackson, the director of the Black Ministers Council, and a notable advocate against racial profiling against minority drivers in traffic stops, was criticized for endorsing Corzine after receiving a large donation from the then candidate.[16]
Franks generally trailed Corzine in the polls until the final week, when he pulled even in a few polls. Corzine spent $63 million, while Franks spent only $6 million.[17]
Despite being heavily outspent, Franks lost by only three percentage points, doing better that year than Republican Governor George W. Bush in the presidential election, who obtained just 40.29% of the vote in the state.[19]
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