1955 New Jersey Senate election

1955 New Jersey Senate elections

← 1953 November 8, 1955 1957  →
←  1951 1959  →
10 of the 21 seats in the New Jersey State Senate 11 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Seats before 17 4 Seats won 14 7 Seat change 3 3 Seats up 9 1 Races won 6 4
Senate President before election Republican Elected Senate President Republican

The 1955 New Jersey Senate elections were held on November 8.

The elections took place midway through the first term of Governor Robert Meyner. Eleven of New Jersey's 21 counties held regular elections for Senator. The Democratic Party gained Camden, Essex and Salem counties.

Incumbents not running for re-election

Democratic

• Bernard W. Vogel (Middlesex)

Republican

• James Cafiero (Cape May)
• Bruce A. Wallace (Camden)

Summary of results by county

County	Incumbent	Party		Elected Senator	Party
Atlantic	Frank S. Farley		Rep	No election
Bergen	Walter H. Jones		Rep	No election
Burlington	Albert McCay		Rep	Albert McCay		Rep
Camden	Bruce A. Wallace		Rep	Joseph W. Cowgill		Dem
Cape May	Anthony Cafiero		Rep	Charles W. Sandman		Rep
Cumberland	W. Howard Sharp		Dem	No election
Essex	Mark Anton [a]		Rep	Donal C. Fox		Dem
Gloucester	Harold W. Hannold		Rep	Harold W. Hannold		Rep
Hudson	James F. Murray Jr.		Dem	No election
Hunterdon	Wesley Lance		Rep	No election
Mercer	Sido Ridolfi		Dem	No election
Middlesex	Bernard W. Vogel		Dem	John A. Lynch Sr.		Dem
Monmouth	Richard R. Stout		Rep	Richard R. Stout		Rep
Morris	Thomas J. Hillery		Rep	No election
Ocean	W. Steelman Mathis		Rep	No election
Passaic	Frank W. Shershin		Rep	No election
Salem	John M. Summerill Jr.		Rep	John A. Waddington		Dem
Somerset	Malcolm Forbes		Rep	Malcolm Forbes		Rep
Sussex	George B. Harper		Rep	No election
Union	Kenneth Hand		Rep	Kenneth Hand		Rep
Warren	Wayne Dumont		Rep	Wayne Dumont		Rep

1. Anton succeeded Senator Alfred C. Clapp, who resigned in 1953 after he was appointed to the New Jersey Superior Court.

Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Camden, 0.26% gain
2. Somerset, 0.94%
3. Essex, 3.35% gain
4. Salem, 6.14% gain
5. Warren, 8.00%
6. Union, 9.33%

Burlington

1955 general election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Albert McCay (incumbent)	24,219	55.77%
	Democratic	Edward J. Hulse	19,206	44.23%
Total votes			43,425	100.0%

Camden

1955 general election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joseph W. Cowgill	54,683	50.02%
	Republican	William G. Rohrer	54,393	49.76%
	Socialist Labor	Robert G. Howell	240	0.22%
Total votes			109,316	100.0%

Cape May

1955 general election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Charles W. Sandman	12,747	73.82%
	Democratic	William E. Sturm	4,520	26.18%
Total votes			17,267	100.0%

Essex

Republican primary

Candidates

• Mark Anton, incumbent Senator since 1953 and founder of Suburban Propane Gas Company ^[2]
• William O. Barnes, Assemblyman from South Orange ^[2]

Campaign

Barnes challenged Anton and the county party establishment with a "Good Government" ticket that included four incumbent Assembly members. ^[2] They were defeated in a rancorous primary, and Barnes lost by about 3,222 votes. ^[2]

General election

1955 general election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Donal C. Fox	118,950	51.11%
	Republican	Mark Anton (incumbent)	111,141	47.76%
	Independent	James R. Golden	2,062	0.89%
	Socialist Labor	Frank DeGeorge	572	0.25%
Total votes			232,725	100.0%

Gloucester

1955 general election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Harold W. Hannold (incumbent)	20,658	56.75%
	Democratic	Thomas F. Connery Jr.	15,742	43.25%
Total votes			36,400	100.0%

Middlesex

1955 general election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John A. Lynch	68,385	64.07%
	Republican	Joseph H. Edgar	38,356	35.93%
Total votes			106,741	100.0%

Monmouth

1955 general election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Richard R. Stout (incumbent)	43,889	64.09%
	Democratic	Thomas J. Smith	24,588	35.91%
Total votes			68,477	100.0%

Salem

1955 general election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John A. Waddington	9,836	53.05%
	Republican	John M. Summerill Jr. (incumbent)	8,698	46.91%
	Socialist Labor	Marvin Ronis	6	0.03%
Total votes			18,540	100.0%

Somerset

General election

Candidates

• Malcolm Forbes, incumbent Senator since 1952 and publisher of Forbes magazine
• Charles W. Engelhard Jr., president of the Engelhard Corporation

Campaign

In a race later dubbed the "Battle of the Billionaires," ^{[3] [4]} Malcolm Forbes narrowly defeated Charles Engelhard.

The Democratic Party targeted Forbes in an effort to stave off a challenge to Governor Meyner in 1957. Forbes, who had already run for governor in 1953 and possessed a large fortune, was expected to be able to self-fund a serious challenge to Meyner. Thus, they recruited Engelhard, a wealthy industrialist who had been a major contributor to the Democratic Party.

Although state election disclosure laws at the time did not require candidates to report spending on their own behalf, some observers as of 2013 believed this to be the most expensive state legislative contest in history. ^[5] Engelhard spent freely to match Forbes. Forbes owned his own local newspaper, the Messenger Gazette, so Engelhard bought out the Somerville Star to serve as his campaign bulletin. ^[5] At one point during the campaign, Engelhard reportedly campaigned by sailing his yacht down the Raritan River wearing a white naval uniform. ^[5]

Results

1955 general election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Malcolm Forbes (incumbent)	19,981	50.47%
	Democratic	Charles W. Engelhard Jr.	19,611	49.53%
Total votes			39,592	100.0%

Forbes survived a challenge and recount. ^[5] Engelhard reportedly felt the loss was a blessing in disguise, as it allowed him to focus his efforts on his vast industrial empire. He later became the inspiration for the James Bond villain Auric Goldfinger. ^[6]

Forbes ran for Governor in 1957 and secured the Republican nomination but lost to Meyner by over 200,000 votes.

Union

1955 general election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Kenneth Hand (incumbent)	67,290	54.10%
	Democratic	Robert L. Sheldon	55,689	44.77%
	Independent	Harry Mopsick	1,413	1.14%
Total votes			124,392	100.0%

Warren

1955 general election ^[1]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Wayne Dumont (incumbent)	12,075	54.00%
	Democratic	James C. Jamieson	10,286	46.00%
Total votes			22,361	100.0%

See also

• List of New Jersey state legislatures

References

1. "Results of the General Election Held November 8th, 1955" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State.
2. "Anton Beats Barnes in Essex Race" . Courier-Post . Associated Press. April 20, 1955. p. 43. Retrieved May 12, 2023.
3. Wildstein, David. "Son of former Speaker dies". NewJerseyGlobe.com. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
4. Wildstein, David. "Somerset hasn't elected a Democratic state senator since 1902". NewJerseyGlobe.com. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
5. Donohue, Joe. "LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS 2013: BIG SPENDING, LITTLE CHANGE PLUS A HISTORY OF SELF-FINANCING BY LEGISLATORS AND OTHERS" (PDF). ELEC. State of New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
6. "Charles W. Engelhard Jr. Biography". allengelhard.com. Retrieved July 11, 2022.