Morgan Foster Larson

Larson received support from Jersey City boss Frank Hague in the 1928 Republican primary, which dogged Larson's fraught relationship with his own party throughout his time in office.

As the 1928 election approached, Larson was viewed as a strong potential nominee.[2] The powerful Essex County Republican machine (and thus the state party) was divided between Senator J. Henry Harrison, a candidate for Governor himself, and Fred G. Stickley Jr.[2]

The Republican Party faced an uphill battle in the general election as well; the Democratic Party, under the leadership of Jersey City political boss Frank Hague, had won the three previous elections.[2] One Republican candidate, reformist judge Robert Carey of Jersey City, launched his campaign as an outright attack on Hague, promising to weaken his machine as Governor. Sensing danger, Hague backed Larson's bid for the nomination, believing that he was the weaker candidate and the lesser threat.[2] In the May primary, twenty thousand Hudson County Democrats crossed over to vote for Larson.[2] Larson defeated Carey by roughly 55,000 votes throughout the state.

Early in the general election campaign, Larson ran an amiable, indulgent campaign. He cited water conservation and transportation development as key issues, but did little to stimulate interest in the electorate.[2] In late September, at the urging of Republican leaders, Larson brought Hague into the campaign again, turning the election into a referendum on "Hagueism," graft, and corruption. "If I am elected Governor," he pledged, "I will enter the Capitol at Trenton through the front door and the Hague machine will go out the back door."[2] Though his opponent, William L. Dill, was unquestionably honest, Larson won 824,005 to 671,728.[2] He was the first Republican elected Governor since Walter Evans Edge in 1919 and only the second since 1908, though he ran several thousand votes behind President-elect Herbert Hoover in the state. His seat in the senate was filled by state assemblyman and labor leader Arthur A. Quinn, who defeated Republican-nominee Russell Watson in a special election in 1929.[3]

The Larson administration was quickly plagued by internal party divisions and challenges to his authority, a consistent theme for New Jersey governors through the 1920s and 1930s.[2] Larson in particular struggled despite his party's control of both chambers of the legislature, as he developed an early reputation as a maverick unwilling to cooperate on appointments.[2] He became rapidly unpopular and politically ineffective shortly after taking office.

His first confrontation was over the office of Attorney General, for which he nominated Senator William A. Stevens of Monmouth without consulting leadership.[2] He further upset state leaders by declining to nominate his primary opponent Carey for Hudson County prosecutor. The decision brewed serious controversy, re-raising the implication that Larson was insufficiently willing to attack Hague or the Hudson County machine.[2] He followed the Carey decision by nominating his close friend and ally, Morristown mayor Clyde W. Potts, for another term on the State Board of Health. The Potts nomination outraged the legislature, given that a Senate committee had implicated Potts in a scheme to suppress competition for a state contract, in violation of state law. In response, the Governor only offered that "there didn't seem to be anything that involves his work as a member of the State Board of Health." Under mounting pressure and criticism, the Governor eventually withdrew the nomination.[2] His final appointment in his first year was to nominate Senator Clarence E. Case to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The nomination throttled Case's Senate committee, charged with investigating impropriety in state government.[2]

The Republican legislature spent much of the year stripping the Governor's office of authority to appoint officials, making efficient administration virtually impossible.[2] Larson's problems compounded in when the Great Depression hit the state.[2] In September 1930, he directed the Attorney General to bring an action against alleged discriminatory freight costs in New York Harbor; the case was rejected by the Interstate Commerce Commission.[2]

Though by now a political liability within his state, Larson's second year in office was more successful; he cooperated with Governor of New York Franklin D. Roosevelt to construct the Lincoln Tunnel.[2] His final year in office was the most frustrating. In his third and final annual message to the legislature, Larson prioritized unemployment and called on the legislators to "meet the state's responsibility in the crisis." He backed the creation of the temporary state Emergency Relief Administration.[2]