[2] His high profile as a leader on transportation reform also established Larson as a statewide power, enabling his climb through the Republican hierarchy and shore up his standing in his Democratic home county.

[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.

[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.

[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 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.

[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] 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.

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."