1971 New Jersey Senate election

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1971 New Jersey Senate elections
Flag of New Jersey.svg
  1967 November 2, 1971 1973  

All 40 seats in the New Jersey State Senate
21 seats needed for a majority
 Majority partyMinority party
 
Leader Raymond Bateman J. Edward Crabiel
Party Republican Democratic
Leader's seat 8th: Somerset 7th: Middlesex
Last election319
Seats before299
Seats won2416
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 5Increase2.svg 7
Popular voteTotal of dist. avg. 919,262Total of dist. avg. 902,180

Senate President before election

Raymond Bateman [1]
Republican

Elected Senate President

Raymond Bateman
Republican

The 1971 New Jersey State Senate election was the mid-term election of Republican William Cahill's term as Governor of New Jersey. Democrats picked up seven Senate seats. Sixteen incumbents did not seek re-election.

Contents

Background

Reapportioning

Legislative districts were redrawn by a 10-member bi-partisan New Jersey Apportionment Commission to reflect population changes following the 1970 U.S. Census. Senators generally (with some exceptions) ran At-Large countywide.

Until 1965, the New Jersey State Senate was composed of 21 senators with each county electing one senator. After the U.S. Supreme Court decision Reynolds v. Sims required legislative districts to be approximately equal in population (a principle known as "one man, one vote"). [2] In 1965, the New Jersey Senate was increased to 29 members, with larger counties given multiple seats and some smaller counties sharing one or two senators.

The map was changed again in 1967, and again in 1971, as the state adjusted to the one man, one vote ruling.

For the 1971 election, two seats were eliminated in District 11 and District 12 (Essex and Hudson counties, respectively). They were replaced by two new seats in the single-member District 4C and District 5 (Burlington and Monmouth counties, respectively). District 6 (now comprising Mercer and Hunterdon County) also switched from electing its senators at-large to electing them from two single-member districts because it became composed of more than one county.

The new districts were divided as follows:

DistrictCounties#
1Cape May and Cumberland1
2Atlantic1
3ASalem and Gloucester (part)1
3BGloucester (part) and Camden (part)1
3CCamden (part)1
4AOcean (part)1
4BBurlington (part) and Ocean (part)1
4CBurlington (part)1
5Monmouth3
6AHunterdon and Mercer (part)1
6BMercer (part)1
7Middlesex3
8Somerset1
9Union3
10Morris2
11Essex5
12Hudson3
13Bergen5
14Passaic3
15Warren and Sussex1

Incumbents not running for re-election

Democratic

Republican

Summary of results by State Senate District

District Incumbent PartyElected SenatorParty
District 1 Robert E. Kay Rep James Cafiero Rep
District 2 Frank S. Farley Rep Joseph McGahn Dem
District 3A John L. White Rep James M. Turner Rep
District 3BHugh A. KellyRepJoseph MaressaDem
District 3C John L. Miller RepJohn L. MillerRep
District 3DFrank C. ItalianoRepFrank C. ItalianoRep
District 4AWilliam HieringRepJohn F. BrownRep
District 4BVacant [a] Barry T. ParkerRep
District 4CNew seat Edward J. Hughes Dem
District 5 Richard Stout RepRichard StoutRep
Alfred Beadleston RepAlfred BeadlestonRep
New seat Joseph Azzolina Rep
District 6 [b] Richard J. Coffee Dem William Schluter Rep
Sido L. Ridolfi Dem Joseph P. Merlino Dem
District 7 John A. Lynch Sr. DemJohn A. Lynch Sr.Dem
J. Edward Crabiel DemJ. Edward CrabielDem
Norman Tanzman DemNorman TanzmanDem
District 8 Raymond Bateman RepRaymond BatemanRep
District 9 Frank X. McDermott RepFrank X. McDermottRep
Matt Rinaldo RepMatt RinaldoRep
Vacant [c] Jerome Epstein Rep
District 10 Joseph Maraziti RepJoseph MarazitiRep
Harry L. Sears RepPeter W. ThomasRep
District 11 James Wallwork RepJames WallworkRep
David W. Dowd Rep Frank J. Dodd Dem
Michael Giuliano RepMichael GiulianoRep
Milton Waldor Rep Ralph DeRose Dem
Geraldo Del Tufo Rep Wynona Lipman Dem
Alexander Matturri RepSeat eliminated
District 12Frederick HauserDem James P. Dugan Dem
William F. Kelly Jr.DemWilliam F. Kelly Jr.Dem
William Musto DemWilliam MustoDem
Frank J. Guarini DemSeat eliminated
District 13Willard KnowltonRep Harold Hollenbeck Rep
Joseph Woodcock RepJoseph WoodcockRep
Fairleigh Dickinson Jr. Rep Frederick Wendel Rep
Alfred Schiaffo RepAlfred SchiaffoRep
Garrett Hagedorn RepGarrett HagedornRep
District 14Edward SiscoRep Joseph Hirkala Dem
Ira SchoemRep William J. Bate Dem
Frank SciroRepJoseph LazzaraDem
District 15 Wayne Dumont Jr. RepWayne Dumont Jr.Rep
  1. The seat was left vacant by the resignation of Edwin B. Forsythe, who was sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives in January 1971.
  2. Split into Districts 6A and 6B.
  3. The third Union seat was vacant after Nicholas LaCorte resigned in 1970. A special election was held simultaneously to complete the remainder of LaCorte's term (November 1971–January 1972) and was won by Democrat Jerry Fitzgerald English.

Gains and losses

Two incumbent Republican senators were defeated for re-election: [3]

One incumbent Republican Senator who was denied party support for another term ran in the general election as an Independent candidate and was defeated; Republicans held this seat: [4]

No incumbent Democratic senators were defeated for re-election.

Open Seats

Thirteen incumbent Republican senators did not seek re-election in 1971, and Democrats won six of those seats: [5]

One incumbent Republican Senator was elected to Congress in 1970 and resigned his State Senate seat in January 1971 to take his seats in the U.S. House of Representatives: [6]

One incumbent Republican Senator resigned in 1970 to become a Judge. His seat was won in a November 1971 Special Election by a Democrat, but Republicans held the seat in the November 1971 General Election for a full term:

One incumbent Democratic Senator was defeated for renomination in the June primary and Democrats held that seat:

Two incumbent Democratic senators did not seek re-election in 1971. Democrats won one seat and Republicans won one seat: [8]

Incumbents who were reelected

Five incumbent Democratic senators were re-elected in 1971: [9]

Fourteen incumbent Republican senators were re-elected in 1971: [10]

Leadership

Republicans chose Raymond Bateman as the Senate President and Alfred Beadleston as Majority Leader; Republicans named J. Edward Crabiel as Minority Leader. [11]

References

  1. Sullivan, Ronald (March 24, 1971). "Hudson and Essex Losing Seats in Jersey's Senate". New York Times.
  2. "JERSEY ORDERED TO REAPPORTION; Judge Finds Congressional Districts Unconstitutional". New York Times. May 21, 1965.
  3. "Results of the General Election" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Elections. State of New Jersey. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  4. "Results of the General Election" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Elections. State of New Jersey. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  5. "Results of the General Election" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Elections. State of New Jersey. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  6. "Results of the General Election" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Elections. State of New Jersey. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  7. "Our Campaigns" (PDF).
  8. "Results of the General Election" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Elections. State of New Jersey. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  9. "Results of the General Election" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Elections. State of New Jersey. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  10. "Results of the General Election" (PDF). New Jersey Division of Elections. State of New Jersey. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  11. Fitzgerald's New Jersey Legislative Manual. Joseph J. Gribbons. 1972.