1965 New Jersey Senate election

The 1965 New Jersey State Senate elections were held on November 2.

1965 New Jersey Senate elections

← 1963 November 2, 1965 1967 →

All 29 seats in the New Jersey State Senate
15 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader John A. Lynch Sr. Charles W. Sandman
(not running)
Party Democratic Republican
Leader's seat 7th district 1st district
Last election 6 15
Seats before 6 13
Seats won 19 10
Seat change Increase 13 Decrease 3
Popular vote 2,894,155 2,394,089

Senate President before election

Charles Sandman
Republican

Elected Senate President

John A. Lynch Sr.
Democratic

The elections were the first held after the Supreme Court's Reynolds v. Sims decision, which held that New Jersey's single-seat county apportionment was unconstitutional. The ruling forced New Jersey to grant multiple seats to its largest counties (and eventually, switch to single-member districts that did not follow county lines).

The election also coincided with a landslide re-election victory for Democratic Governor Richard J. Hughes.

The result was a majority for the Democratic Party, the first since 1915.

Background

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Reapportioning

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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"), New Jersey entered a decade-long period of reapportionment.[1]

The overall effect of the reapportioning was to reduce representation for rural counties and increase representation for more populous urban counties, bringing the per person population closer to parity.

In 1965, the Senate was increased to 29 members, with larger counties given multiple seats and some smaller counties sharing one or two Senators:

County 1965 District #
Atlantic 1 2   1
Cape May
Gloucester
Cumberland 2 1   1
Salem
Camden 3 2   1
Burlington 4 1  
Monmouth 5 2  
Ocean
Mercer 6 1  
Middlesex 7 2   1
Hunterdon 8 1   1
Somerset
Union 9 2   1
Morris 10 2   1
Sussex
Warren
Essex 11 4   3
Hudson 12 3   2
Bergen 13 4   3
Passaic 14 2   1

Incumbents not running for re-election

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Democratic

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  • Robert H. Weber (District 2) (managed John Waddington's campaign)

Republican

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  • Charles W. Sandman (District 1) (ran for Governor)
  • W. Steelman Mathis (District 5)[2]
  • Wayne Dumont (District 10) (ran for Governor)

Summary of results by State Senate District

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County Incumbent Party New District Elected Senator Party
Atlantic Frank S. Farley Rep District 1 John E. Hunt Rep
Cape May Charles W. Sandman Rep Frank S. Farley Rep
Gloucester John E. Hunt Rep Seat eliminated
Cumberland Robert H. Weber Dem District 2 John A. Waddington Dem
Salem John A. Waddington Dem Seat eliminated
Camden Frederick J. Scholz Rep District 3 Frederick J. Scholz Rep
New seat A. Donald Bigley Dem
Burlington Edwin B. Forsythe Rep District 4 Edwin B. Forsythe Rep
Monmouth Richard R. Stout Rep District 5 Richard R. Stout Rep
Ocean W. Steelman Mathis Rep William T. Hiering Rep
Mercer Sido L. Ridolfi Dem District 6 Sido L. Ridolfi Dem
Middlesex John A. Lynch Dem District 7 John A. Lynch Dem
New seat J. Edward Crabiel Dem
Hunterdon Vacant[a] District 8 William E. Ozzard Rep
Somerset William E. Ozzard Rep Seat eliminated
Union Nelson F. Stamler Rep District 9 Nelson F. Stamler Rep
New seat Mildred Barry Hughes Dem
Morris Thomas J. Hillery Rep District 10 Thomas J. Hillery Rep
Sussex Vacant[b] Milton Woolfenden Rep
Warren Wayne Dumont Rep Seat eliminated
Essex C. Robert Sarcone Rep District 11 Nicholas Fernicola Dem
New seat Macyln Goldman Dem
New seat John J. Giblin Dem
New seat Hutchins Inge Dem
Hudson William F. Kelly Dem District 12 William Musto Dem
New seat William F. Kelly Dem
New seat Frank Guarini Dem
Bergen Pierce H. Deamer Jr. Rep District 13 Ned Parsekian Dem
New seat Matt Feldman Dem
New seat Jeremiah F. O'Connor Dem
New seat Alfred W. Kiefer Dem
Passaic Anthony J. Grossi Dem District 14 Anthony J. Grossi Dem
New seat Joseph M. Keegan Dem
  1. ^ The seat was vacant following the death of Senator Raymond E. Bowkley in April 1965.
  2. ^ The seat was vacant following the resignation of Senator George B. Harper, who resigned in 1964 to take office as New Jersey Auditor.

District 1

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District 1 (two seats) [3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican John E. Hunt (incumbent) 75,373 %
Republican Frank S. Farley (incumbent) 69,767 %
Democratic Leo T. Clark 65,059
Democratic Edward Savage 59,959
Total votes 100.00%

District 2

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District 2 (one seat) [3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John A. Waddington (incumbent) 32,292 56.97%
Republican John J. Spoltore 24,390 43.03%
Total votes 56,682 100.00%

District 3

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District 3 (two seats) [3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Frederick J. Scholz 66,509 %
Democratic A. Donald Bigley 62,396 51.22%
Democratic Alfred R. Pierce 61,285
Republican John H. Mohrfeld III 59,359
Total votes 100.00%

District 4

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District 4 (one seat) [3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Edwin B. Forsythe 34,098 52.69%
Democratic George H. Barbour 30,617 47.31%
Total votes 64,715 100.00%

District 5

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District 4 (one seat) [3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Richard R. Stout 99,688 28.4%
Republican William T. Hiering 95,282 27.2%
Democratic John J. Reilly 80,832 23.1%
Democratic Thomas J. Muccifori 74,857 21.2%
Total votes 350,659 100.00%

District 6

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1965 general election[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sido L. Ridolfi (incumbent) 56,231 62.2%
Republican William E. Schluter 33,821 37.4%
Socialist Labor Joseph J. Frank 284 0.3%
Total votes 90,336 100.00%

District 7

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1965 general election[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic John A. Lynch (incumbent) 114,955 34.2%
Democratic J. Edward Crabiel 111,893 33.3%
Republican Edgar Hellriegel 55,154 16.4%
Republican Albert L. Ichel 54,470 16.2%
Total votes 336,472 100.00%

District 8

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1965 general election[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican William E. Ozzard (incumbent) 39,596 50.3%
Democratic Arthur S. Meredith 39,185 49.7%
Total votes 78,781 100.0

District 9

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1965 general election[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Nelson Stamler (incumbent) 99,327 27.4%
Democratic Mildred Barry Hughes 92,102 25.4%
Republican Peter McDonough 90,261 24.9%
Democratic William P. Hourihan 81,226 22.4%
Total votes 362,916 100.00%

District 10

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1965 general election[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Thomas J. Hillery (incumbent) 89,839 31.4%
Republican Milton Woolfenden Jr. 85,192 29.8%
Democratic Ruth C. Mitchell 57,038 20.0%
Democratic Irene Mackey Smith 53,823 18.8%
Total votes 285,892 100.00%

District 11

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1965 general election[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nicholas Fernicola 145,589 13.7%
Democratic Maclyn Goldman 143,795 13.5%
Democratic John J. Giblin 143,040 13.4%
Democratic Hutchins F. Inge 135,959 12.8%
Republican C. Robert Sarcone (incumbent) 128,815 12.1%
Republican Irwin I. Kimmelman 116,205 10.9%
Republican James E. Churchman, Jr. 112,995 10.6%
Republican William F. Tompkins 112,128 10.5%
Independent George C. Richardson[a] 10,409 1.0%
Independent Kenrick O. Stephenson[a] 5,970 0.6%
Independent David Blumgart[a] 5,305 0.5%
Independent Fredrick Waring[a] 4,476 0.4%
Total votes 1,064,686 100.00%
  1. ^ a b c d Richardson, Stephenson, Blumgart, and Waring ran on the "United Political Freedom" line.

District 12

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1965 general election[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic William Musto 154,183 24.7%
Democratic William F. Kelly Jr. (incumbent) 152,975 24.6%
Democratic Frank Guarini 152,263 24.4%
Republican William Bozzuffi 52,363 8.4%
Republican John J. Grossi, Jr. 51,891 8.3%
Republican Victoria Borsett 50,649 8.1%
Independent James C. Lynch[a] 3,204 0.5%
Independent Beatrice Waiss[a] 2,772 0.4%
Independent Willie Mae Mason[a] 2,741 0.4%
Total votes 623,041 100.00%
  1. ^ a b c Lynch, Waiss, and Mason ran on "The New Frontier" line.

District 13

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1965 general election[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ned J. Parsekian 174,438 14.1%
Democratic Matthew Feldman 159,236 12.9%
Democratic Jeremiah F. O'Connor 156,888 12.7%
Democratic Alfred W. Kiefer 152,844 12.4%
Republican Peter Moraites 148,092 12.0%
Republican Marion West Higgins 148,035 12.0%
Republican Arthur W. Vervaet 144,890 11.7%
Republican Nelson G. Gross 143,532 11.6%
Conservative Thomas J. Moriarty 4,408 0.4%
Independent Louis Berns[a] 1,256 0.1%
Total votes 1,233,619 100.00%
  1. ^ Berns ran on the "Fusion" line.

District 14

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1965 general election[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Anthony J. Grossi (incumbent) 75,497 28.8%
Democratic Joseph M. Keegan 73,698 28.1%
Republican Arthur J. Sullivan 57,326 21.9%
Republican John F. Evers 55,042 21.0%
Socialist Labor Harry Santhouse 442 0.2%
Total votes 262,005 100.00%

References

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  1. ^ "Jersey Ordered to Reapportion – Judge Finds Congressional Districts Unconstitutional". New York Times. May 21, 1965.
  2. ^ "Some Ocean County GOP History". Observer. August 13, 2009. Archived from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Results of the General Election Held November 7, 1965" (PDF). Secretary of State Robert J. Burkhardt. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 9, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021.