Jim Florio, a Congressman representing the Philadelphia suburbs of South Jersey, is elected Governor of New Jersey. In a landslide, the Democrat gets 61 percent of the vote to defeat Jim Courter, also in the House, whose District included my hometown of East Brunswick.
It was his 3rd try. He had lost the Democratic Primary in 1977. In 1981, with Governor Brendan Byrne, a Democrat, term-limited, Florio won the Democratic nomination, but lost the general election to Tom Kean, the Speaker of the State Assembly, by 1,797 votes, the closest election in the office's history. It was so close, the State Constitution required an automatic recount. For over a week, we didn't know who the next Governor was going to be. I remember seeing the State flag flying upside-down at a McDonald's, and my mother said it was a reflection of the "upside-down election."
Kean was easily re-elected in 1985, and Florio was too smart to challenge him. After 2 terms, Kean was term-limited, and couldn't run again. Florio had collected so many "political IOUs" over the years, the nomination was easily his. Courter owed his career not just to President Ronald Reagan, who was now out of office, but to a gerrymandered, pro-Republican district (which has since been redrawn to favor a Democrat). Outside of his district, Courter didn't have name recognition, and he won only 5 out of 21 Counties, while Florio got 61 percent of the vote.
Oddly, Dinkins and Florio had grown up in each other's jurisdiction: Dinkins was born and raised in New Jersey's capital city, Trenton, and went to Trenton Central High School; while Florio was born and raised in Brooklyn, and went to Erasmus Hall High School.
Oddly, Dinkins and Florio had grown up in each other's jurisdiction: Dinkins was born and raised in New Jersey's capital city, Trenton, and went to Trenton Central High School; while Florio was born and raised in Brooklyn, and went to Erasmus Hall High School.
None of these 3 victorious Democrats would serve a 2nd term. Governors of Virginia are limited to 1 term, although Wilder would return to public life, being elected Mayor of Richmond, the State capital and his hometown. In 1993, both Dinkins and Florio would lose close and very nasty races for re-election, the former in a rematch with Giuliani, the latter to Somerset County Freeholder Christine Todd Whitman.
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November 7, 1989, like all modern Election Days in America, was a Tuesday. Major league pitcher Sonny Gray was born.
Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek: There were 9 games in the NBA:
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Miami Heat, 83-77 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.
* The Washington Bullets beat the Atlanta Hawks, 118-114 at The Omni in Atlanta.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons, 117-114 at the Chicago Stadium. Michael Jordan scored 40 points.
* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Boston Celtics, 106-100 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 109-86 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church.)
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Phoenix Suns, 111-107 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. James Worthy scored 35 points.
* The Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 118-94 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena.
* The Sacramento Kings beat the Dallas Mavericks, 96-94 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Charlotte Hornets, 128-88 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
And there was 1 game in the NHL: The Washington Capitals beat the New York Islanders, 5-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.
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