How North Bergen Votes

 

So how does North Bergen vote? This article will examine the last 40 Presidential Elections! From 1872 to 2020. Ulysses S. Grant to Joe Biden and everyone in between.  We will look at how we vote and try to offer explanations why. 

1868 

Our first recorded election is one that still makes no sense to us here at the NBHS. In 1868 (R) Ulysses S. Grant won 124 votes. His opponent (D) Horatio Seymour won the township with 186 votes. Why does this result make no sense to us? North Bergen named their first public school after Ulysses S. Grant! Seymour, a New Yorker, would ultimately lose to Grant in the Electoral College and popular vote. 

1872 

OK, here we go, the 1872 Election. President (R) Grant looking for a second term, and (D) Horace Greely looking to upset the incumbent. How did North Bergen vote? 133 for Grant and 178 for Greeley. Greeley was the founder of the New York Tribune and very influential in the metro New York political scene. 

1876

In the 1876 Election North Bergeners supported (D) Samuel J. Tilden casting 364 votes. Tilden an early Reformer win North Bergen votes by more than double of the eventual winner (R) Rutherford B. Hayes, who received only 144 votes out of the township. Actually the results of the 1876 election were extremely disputed earning Hayes the nickname of "His Fraudulency."

1880

1880, OK, here we go we are due to pick a winner... and we don't. North Bergeners voted for Civil War hero General Winfield S. Hancock who was the Democratic Party nominee. Hancock gained 413 votes. (R) James Garfield would only have half that support with 227 votes. 

1884 

In 1884 North Bergen's results were...well...they were...umm lost? No matter where we look we can not find results for North Bergen. Hudson County left it up to the state to recount votes, which they did on November 12, 1884.  What we do know is Hudson County recorded 4000 votes for (D) Grover Cleveland and 0 votes for (R) James Blaine. Cleveland ultimately beat Blaine in New Jersey winning her nine electoral votes by 4358 votes.

1888 

Four years later, (D) Cleveland, a New Jersey native, would win big in North Bergen. He drummed up nearly 500 votes to (R) Benjamin Harrison's 258 votes. Harrison would eventually go on to win the Presidency and get a street in West New York named after him. But "The Front Porch Campaigner" came out on top largely thanks to the nearly 100 speeches he gave from his own front porch in Indianapolis.

1892 

(D) Grover Cleveland is the only President to serve two terms, but not consecutively. In 1892 "Grover the Good" beat up on President (R) Harrison winning the vote in town 543 to 292. Cleveland won the national vote as well making him not only the 22nd President, but the 24th as well. 

1896 

In 1896 both of North Bergen's voting districts votes were not recorded. (R) William McKinley won Hudson County by 5,394 votes. It is assumed McKinley won North Bergen's votes as there is a school named for the President, however it is most likely named in honor of him after his assassination. 

1900 

President McKinley made a second run for President in 1900.  McKinley would again lose the vote in North Bergen to (D) William J. Bryan , 469 to 398. Unfortunately for McKinley he never saw the term completed. He was assonated in September of 1901 and a scrappy Vice President by the name of Theodore Roosevelt took his place.  

1904

Theodore Roosevelt is an iconic American figure. However resident in 1904 did not see that at the time. The town through their support behind (D) Alton Parker. Parker won the town vote 851 to 694 but was trounced in a landslide gaining only roughly 5 million votes to Teddy's 7.6 million. 

1908 

We are still searching for the 1908 Returns. However, Taft had been backed by Mayor Mark Fagan of Jersey City and it is assumed by Mayor Charles Dietz of North Bergen as all were members of the Republican Party. Taft won in a landslide nationally but also in the county as well. 

1912

In the 1912 election North Bergeners casted 1194 votes for "The Schoolmaster,"  (D) Woodrow Wilson. The Princeton President had quite the reputation in New Jersey which explained the states overwhelming support for Wilson.  (R) Taft would receive 175 votes, while (Progressive) Theodore Roosevelt would receive 605 votes as a third party candidate.  

1916

As World War I loomed on the horizon, North Bergeners continued their supports of President Woodrow Wilson, casting 1697 votes for him. However, the race was a bit tighter than 1912 as (D) Charles Hughes reviewed 1498 votes. In fact Wilson would only win the county by 3000 votes. 

1920

If North Bergen had its was in 1920 the 29th President of the United States would have been (D) James. M Cox. Residents caste 2054 votes for the Democratic candidate. Future President Warren G. Harding received 1129 votes.

1924

"Cool Cal" nearly squeaked out a win in North Bergen. Calvin Coolidge (R) walked away with 3485 vote, just edging out his opponent. John Davie would have the support of 3148 residents and third party candidate Robert La Follette (Progressive Party) drummed up 1122 votes. 

1928

By 1928 North Bergen had transformed from a sleepy suburb of New York into a bustling municipality of its own. The township added roughly 17,000 residents since 1920, the majority being immigrant enclaves and working class.  Hoover gained support in the county as he promised to maintain protective tariffs for American manufactures. There was massive voter turn out as (R) Hebert Hoover took on (D) Al Smith. "The Great Engineer" just beat out Smith by a total vote of 6285 to 6000. 

1932-1944

"The Sphinx," "The Man in the White House," "FDR," Franklin D. Roosevelt not only won the votes from North Bergen, but the hearts of those who lived here. FDR's New Deal kept many in town employed with construction projects such as: The Post Office on 46th and Tonnelle Avenue, Meadowview Village, the restoration of the facades of the public schools, general road maintained and rumor has it the wall on 77th Street and Newkirk Avenue. Needless, or more obvious, FDR won North Bergen's support at the polls in each time his name was on the ballot. 

1932- 10598 to (R) Herbert Hoover's 5161

1936 - 11911 to (R) Alf Landon's 2234

1940 - 15436 to (R) Wendell Wilkie's 4469

1944 - 9807 to (R) Thomas Dewey's 9453

1948

"Give 'Em Hell Harry" Truman (D) took the North Bergen vote by a margin of 10185 to 8346. Truman defeated (R) Thomas Dewey in that very infamous election immortalized in the photo above.

1952

You know who liked Ike? North Bergen liked Ike! (R) Eisenhower received 3000 more votes than (D) Adlai Stevenson. Ike gaining 12274 votes and Stevenson taking 9566. The 1952 Republican platform stressed the importance of a strong working-middle class which North Bergen truly defined.

1956

We still liked Ike! Eisenhower won North Bergen again in 1956! This time he beat up Adlai Stevenson even worse. Ike gained 2000 more votes that year earning 12625 to Stevenson's 6544. Eisenhower and the Republican Party had a strong hold in Hudson County as it was a booming industrial center.

1960

(D) John F. Kennedy narrowly beat (R) Richard Nixon in 1960, in North Bergen at least. JFK won just more than half the votes in town with 11194. Nixon almost had him falling just 122 votes short. The 1960 election itself was extremely close with Kennedy winning New Jersey by 22,000 votes and the popular vote by 102,000 votes. 

1964

I must admit as I write this article I have always had a soft spot of LBJ. A former teacher and all around Texan tough guy Johnson seemed to have an impossible take in 1964, fill the shoes of JFK. But LBJ did just that. "Landslide Lyndon" won North Bergen by almost 10,000 votes. He defeated (R) Barry Goldwater 15,299 votes to 6,295. 

1968

(R) Richard Milhouse Nixon would just beat out (D) Hubert H. Humphrey. Nixon took 9,417 votes to Humphrey's 9,351. The wildcard in that race was the third party candidate, George Wallace. Wallace's team made major attempts in Hudson County to swing resident in his favor. Wallace gained 1,730 votes in town. 

1972

"Tricky Dick" wins again! But this time by a huge margin. Nixon earned 13,853 votes to (D) George McGovern's 7,218. Nixon would not complete his second term due to his actions in the Watergate Scandal. He would be replaced by Gerald Ford in 1973.

1976

Ah, the Bicentennial. What is more American than having an election year fall on the 200 year anniversary of our independence? Well the only thing more American I guess would be electing a farmer, which we did! (D) James E. Carter, a peanut farmer from Georgia won America's and North Bergen's heart. Carter won 10,727 votes to the incumbent (R) President Gerald Ford's 9,856.

1980

The 1980 Election in North Bergen was a close one, but not that close. (R) Ronald Reagan took the majority of the town's votes, 10,263. (D) President Carter took a bulk, 7,470 and (I) John Anderson collected 994.

1984

"The Gipper" did even better in North Bergen in 1984. He easily defeated (D) Walter Mondale. Reagan walked away with nearly 13,000 votes and Mondale just barely 7,000 votes. 

1988

Vice President more likely than not often run for President. Up until this election it was 14, and (R) George H.W. Bush was the last VP to become President. In 1988, Bush Sr. beat out (D) Michael Dukakis. Bush received 9,519 votes while Dukakis collected 8,230 votes.

1992

Four years later Bush would lose his support from North Bergen. He lost to the young Arkansas Governor, (D) Bill Clinton. In town Clinton won 9,035 votes and Bush 7,357. There was a third party candidate that year, a man with a chart or graph for everything, (I) Ross Perot. Perot stole away 1.409 votes. 

1996

Unlike Bush, North Bergen overwhelmingly continued their support for Bill Clinton in 1996. He crushed (R) Bob Dole and (I) Ross Perot. "Slick Willie" collected 11,759 votes while Dole gathered 4,263 and Perot earned 1,020. 

2000

Perhaps the most contested election in American History, current one include. Vice President (D) Al Gore and (R) George Bush Jr. squared off as Americans prepared to enter a new century. Roughly 13,000 residents supported Gore, another 8,000 supported Bush. When the dust settled Gore won the county by over 100,000 votes, the state by 500,000 votes. But...Florida...it's always Sunshine State causing all that election madness isn't it. 

2004

As the United States was just beginning to shake off the shock of 9/11 the 2004 Presidential Election unfolded. (R) George Bush sought a second term and (D) John Kerry attempted to unseat the President. North Bergeners threw their weight behind Kerry. Kerry gained 12,783 votes and Bush lost support in town, gaining 6,541 votes.

2008

In 2008 North Bergen believed in the hope (D) Barack Obama promised. He received 14,791 votes from residents. His opponent, (R) John McCain received 6,100 votes

2012

"No Drama Obama" continued to receive support during his 2012 re-election campaign. His vote total slightly increased to 15,600 votes. While (R) Mitt Romney could only drum up 4,209 votes

2016

In 2016 the town voted for (D) Hillary Clinton almost 3 to 1. Clinton collected 15,944 votes while (R) Donald Trump racked up 5,294 votes. 

2020

While we are still waiting for the numbers to be released we do know that Vice President (D) Joe Biden convincingly won Hudson County. Biden won 74.2% of the county's vote. President Trump won only 24.4% of that vote.

So what can be said about the vote coming out of North Bergen? Well we are certainly not a bellwether by any means.  We are 30 out 40 in predicating the winner of the Presidential Election so we don't exactly have a history of prediction. What we do see is we have come from a very small electorate, 1872 a total of 310 voters, to an expansive and diverse voting base. As we researched these numbers and watched the election unfold it was exciting to see residents become engaged in the voting process. This thing we call Democracy is truly an ever evolving experiment. As we see another election end one can only hope we continue to be engaged in the right, privilege and responsibility of voting for our elected officials.