Editing George B. McClellan (section)

===1877 campaign===
{{Main|1877 New Jersey gubernatorial election}}
McClellan was a resident of [[West Orange, New Jersey]] in 1877 when the New Jersey Democratic Party nominated him for governor, an action that took him by surprise because he had not expressed an interest in the position. His nomination was largely an effort by key party members to prevent the leading candidate, [[Leon Abbett]], from gaining the nomination. After his name was unexpectedly placed into nomination at the state convention, there was a stampede and he was nominated by acclamation.<ref name=NJSLbio>{{cite web |url=http://www.njstatelib.org/NJ_Information/Digital_Collections/Governors_of_New_Jersey/GMCCL.pdf |access-date=December 2, 2021 |title=Biography of George B. McClellan |publisher=[[New Jersey State Library]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060319073313/http://www.njstatelib.org/NJ_Information/Digital_Collections/Governors_of_New_Jersey/GMCCL.pdf |archive-date=March 19, 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="QARcZ" />

In the general election, he faced [[William A. Newell]], a Republican former governor who accused McClellan of living in New York, which he easily refuted. McClellan won the election as Democrats gained a majority in both houses of the New Jersey legislature for the first time since 1870.<ref name=NJSLbio/>