1959 New Jersey Senate election

1959 New Jersey Senate elections

←  1957 November 3, 1959 1961  →
12 of the 21 seats in the New Jersey State Senate 11 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Joseph W. Cowgill Party Republican Democratic Leader's seat Camden Last election 13 8 Seats before 12 7 Seats won 11 10 Seat change 1 3 Seats up 5 6 Races won 9 2
Senate President before election Republican Elected Senate President Republican

The 1959 New Jersey Senate elections were held on November 3.

The elections took place midway through the second term of Governor Robert Meyner. Eleven of New Jersey's 21 counties held regular elections for Senator; Cumberland County also held a special election to complete the unexpired term of W. Howard Sharp, who died in December 1958. ^[1]

Democrats gained three seats by flipping a seat each in Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties (which was vacant), as well as holding their vacant seat in Cumberland. Democrats nearly won control of the New Jersey Senate for the first time since 1915; only 567 votes separated victorious Republican Robert C. Crane and Democrat H. Roy Wheeler in Union County.

Incumbents not running for re-election

All ten incumbents ran for re-election.

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	Henry S. Haines		Dem
Camden	Joseph W. Cowgill		Dem	Joseph W. Cowgill		Dem
Cape May	Charles W. Sandman		Rep	Charles W. Sandman		Rep
Cumberland	Vacant [a]			Robert H. Weber		Dem
Essex	Donal C. Fox		Dem	Donal C. Fox		Dem
Gloucester	Vacant [b]			Thomas F. Connery Jr.		Dem
Hudson	William F. Kelly Jr.		Dem	No election
Hunterdon	Wesley Lance		Rep	No election
Mercer	Sido Ridolfi		Dem	No election
Middlesex	John A. Lynch		Dem	John A. Lynch		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	Anthony J. Grossi		Dem	No election
Salem	John A. Waddington		Dem	John A. Waddington		Dem
Somerset	William E. Ozzard [c]		Rep	William E. Ozzard		Rep
Sussex	George B. Harper		Rep	No election
Union	Robert C. Crane [d]		Rep	Robert C. Crane		Rep
Warren	Wayne Dumont		Rep	Wayne Dumont		Rep

1. This seat was vacant following the December 1958 death of Senator W. Howard Sharp.
2. This seat was vacant following the May 1959 resignation of Senator Harold W. Hannold.
3. Ozzard won a 1958 special election to complete the unexpired term of Senator Malcolm Forbes, who resigned.
4. Crane won a 1956 special election to complete the unexpired term of Senator Kenneth Hand, who resigned to become a Superior Court judge.

Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Union, 0.34%
2. Gloucester, 1.54%
3. Camden, 3.44%
4. Essex, 5.88%
5. Burlington, 8.26% gain

Burlington

1959 general election ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Henry S. Haines	30,183	54.13%
	Republican	Albert McCay (incumbent)	25,575	45.87%
Total votes			55,758	100.0%

Camden

1959 general election ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joseph W. Cowgill (incumbent)	61,656	51.72%
	Republican	William G. Rohrer	57,564	48.28%
Total votes			119,220	100.0%

Cape May

1959 general election ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Charles W. Sandman (incumbent)	12,206	61.38%
	Democratic	Fred C. Barthelmess	7,679	38.62%
Total votes			19,885	100.0%

Cumberland (special)

1959 general election ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Robert H. Weber	17,419	56.10%
	Republican	Robert G. Howell	13,631	43.90%
Total votes			31,050	100.0%

Essex

1959 general election ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Donal C. Fox (incumbent)	126,800	51.11%
	Republican	Alfred C. Clapp	112,218	45.23%
	Independent	Anthony D. Scipio	7,426	2.99%
	Independent	Frank DeGeorge	1,643	0.66%
Total votes			248,087	100.0%

Gloucester

1959 general election ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Thomas F. Connery Jr.	23,665	50.77%
	Republican	John Joseph Kitchen	22,943	49.23%
Total votes			46,608	100.0%

Middlesex

1959 general election ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John A. Lynch (incumbent)	86,880	64.30%
	Republican	Fred S. Brause	48,231	35.70%
Total votes			135,111	100.0%

Monmouth

1959 general election ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Richard R. Stout (incumbent)	54,946	57.79%
	Democratic	Thomas J. Smith	40,125	42.21%
Total votes			95,071	100.0%

Salem

1959 general election ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John A. Waddington (incumbent)	12,215	59.92%
	Republican	Peter B. Hoff	8,172	40.08%
Total votes			20,387	100.0%

Somerset

1959 general election ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	William E. Ozzard (incumbent)	24,120	57.03%
	Democratic	William H. Sutherland	18,175	42.97%
Total votes			42,295	100.0%

Union

1959 general election ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Robert C. Crane (incumbent)	82,609	49.61%
	Democratic	H. Roy Wheeler	82,042	49.27%
	Independent	Frank Chodorov	1,862	1.12%
Total votes			166,513	100.0%

Warren

1959 general election ^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Wayne Dumont (incumbent)	13,366	56.73%
	Democratic	Thomas C. Swick	10,194	43.27%
Total votes			23,560	100.0%

References

1. "W. HOWARD SHARP, LEGISLATOR, DEAD; Jersey State Senator, a Democrat, Had Served as Common Pleas Judge". The New York Times . December 18, 1958. p. G2. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
2. "Results of the General Election Held November 3rd, 1959" (PDF). Robert J. Burkhardt, New Jersey Secretary of State.