1977 New Jersey Senate election explained

Election Name:	1977 New Jersey State Senate elections
Country:	New Jersey
Type:	legislative
Ongoing:	no
Previous Election:	1973 New Jersey State Senate election
Previous Year:	1973
Next Election:	1981 New Jersey State Senate election
Next Year:	1981
Seats For Election:	All 40 seats in the New Jersey State Senate
Majority Seats:	21
Election Date:	November 8, 1977
Leader1:	Matthew Feldman
Party1:	Democratic Party (United States)
Leaders Seat1:	37th
Last Election1:	29
Seats Before1:	28
Seats1:	27
Seat Change1:	1
Leader2:	James Cafiero
Party2:	Republican Party (United States)
Leaders Seat2:	1st
Last Election2:	10
Seats Before2:	10
Seats2:	13
Seat Change2:	3
Party3:	Independent (United States)
Last Election3:	1
Seats Before3:	1
Seats3:	0
Seat Change3:	1
Senate President
Before Election:	Matthew Feldman
Before Party:	Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:	Joseph P. Merlino
After Party:	Democratic Party (United States)
Map Size:	x300px

The 1977 New Jersey State Senate election coincided with Brendan Byrne's re-election to a second term as Governor of New Jersey.

The election coincided with Governor Brendan Byrne's re-election over Senator Raymond Bateman. Byrne narrowly survived a primary election which eliminated seven incumbent Democratic Senators. Despite the intra-party division and early polls indicating Byrne was an underdog in the general election, Byrne survived and the Democrats preserved their large majority in the Senate, losing just one seat on aggregate.^[1] This is the last time Democrats held a veto-proof majority in the chamber.

Democrats chose Joseph P. Merlino as the Senate President and Carmen Orechio as Majority Leader; Republicans named Garrett Hagedorn as Minority Leader.^[2]

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Contents Incumbents not running • Summary of results By District: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 39 • 40

Incumbents not running for re-election

Democratic

• John A. Lynch Sr. (District 17)
• Alexander J. Menza (District 20) (ran for U.S. Senator)
• Raymond Garramone (District 39) (ran for Governor)

Republican

• Alfred N. Beadleston (District 11)
• Raymond Bateman (District 16) (ran for Governor)
• Frank Davenport (District 35)

Summary of results by district

District	Incumbent	Party		Elected Senator	Party
1st Legislative District	James Cafiero		Rep	James Cafiero		Rep
2nd Legislative District	Joseph McGahn		Dem	Steven P. Perskie		Dem
3rd Legislative District	Raymond Zane		Dem	Raymond Zane		Dem
4th Legislative District	Joseph A. Maressa		Dem	Joseph A. Maressa		Dem
5th Legislative District	Angelo Errichetti		Dem	Angelo Errichetti		Dem
6th Legislative District	Alene Ammond		Dem	Lee B. Laskin		Rep
7th Legislative District	Edward J. Hughes		Dem	Charles B. Yates		Dem
8th Legislative District	Barry T. Parker		Rep	Barry T. Parker		Rep
9th Legislative District	John F. Russo		Dem	John F. Russo		Dem
10th Legislative District	Herbert J. Buehler		Dem	Brian T. Kennedy		Rep
11th Legislative District	Alfred N. Beadleston		Rep	S. Thomas Gagliano		Rep
12th Legislative District	Eugene J. Bedell		Dem	Eugene J. Bedell		Dem
13th Legislative District	Joseph P. Merlino		Dem	Joseph P. Merlino		Dem
14th Legislative District	Vacant			Walter E. Foran		Rep
15th Legislative District	Wayne Dumont		Rep	Wayne Dumont		Rep
16th Legislative District	Raymond Bateman		Rep	John H. Ewing		Rep
17th Legislative District	John A. Lynch Sr.		Dem	William J. Hamilton		Dem
18th Legislative District	Bernard Dwyer		Dem	Bernard Dwyer		Dem
19th Legislative District	John Fay		Dem	Laurence Weiss		Dem
20th Legislative District	Alexander J. Menza		Dem	Anthony E. Russo		Dem
21st Legislative District	Thomas G. Dunn		Dem	John Gregorio		Dem
22nd Legislative District	Peter J. McDonough		Rep	Peter J. McDonough		Rep
23rd Legislative District	Stephen B. Wiley		Dem	John H. Dorsey		Rep
24th Legislative District	James P. Vreeland		Rep	James P. Vreeland		Rep
25th Legislative District	James Wallwork		Rep	James Wallwork		Rep
26th Legislative District	Frank J. Dodd		Dem	Frank J. Dodd		Dem
27th Legislative District	Carmen Orechio		Dem	Carmen Orechio		Dem
28th Legislative District	Martin L. Greenberg		Dem	Martin L. Greenberg		Dem
29th Legislative District	Wynona Lipman		Dem	Wynona Lipman		Dem
30th Legislative District	Anthony Imperiale		Ind	Frank E. Rodgers		Dem
31st Legislative District	James P. Dugan		Dem	Wally Sheil		Dem
32nd Legislative District	Joseph W. Tumulty		Dem	David Friedland		Dem
33rd Legislative District	William Musto		Dem	William Musto		Dem
34th Legislative District	Joseph Hirkala		Dem	Joseph Hirkala		Dem
35th Legislative District	Frank Davenport		Rep	Frank X. Graves Jr.		Dem
36th Legislative District	Anthony Scardino		Dem	Anthony Scardino		Dem
37th Legislative District	Matthew Feldman		Dem	Matthew Feldman		Dem
38th Legislative District	John Skevin		Dem	John Skevin		Dem
39th Legislative District	Raymond Garramone		Dem	Frank Herbert		Dem
40th Legislative District	Garrett Hagedorn		Rep	Garrett Hagedorn		Rep

Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

Incumbents defeated

In primary elections

Democratic

• District 2: Joseph McGahn (Atlantic) lost party support to Steven P. Perskie, an Assemblyman from Atlantic County.^{[3] [4] [5]}
• District 6: Alene Ammond (Camden) lost the primary to Victor Pachter.^[6]
• District 7: Edward J. Hughes (Burlington) lost the primary to Charles B. Yates.
• District 19: John Fay (Middlesex) lost the primary to Laurence Weiss.
• District 21: Thomas Dunn (Union) lost party support to John Gregorio, an Assemblyman from Union County and mayor of Linden.^[7]
• District 31: James P. Dugan (Hudson) lost the primary to Wally Sheil, the President of Hudson County Community College.^[8]
• District 32: Joseph W. Tumulty (Hudson) lost the primary to David Friedland, a former Assemblyman from Hudson County.^[9]

In general elections

Democratic

• District 10: Herbert Buehler (Monmouth) lost to Republican Brian Kennedy, a former Assemblyman from Monmouth County.^[10]
• District 23: Stephen Wiley (Morris) lost to Republican John H. Dorsey, an Assemblyman from Morris County.^[11]

Independent

• District 2: After losing the Democratic primary, Senator Joseph McGahn ran as an independent in the general election; he finished third behind Perskie and Republican F. Frederick Perone.
• District 21: After losing the Democratic primary, Senator Thomas Dunn ran as an independent in the general election; he finished second behind Gregorio.
• District 30: Anthony Imperiale (Essex) was defeated by Democrat Frank E. Rodgers, the mayor of Harrison.^[12]

Open seats

Democratic holds

• District 17: John A. Lynch Sr. (Middlesex) retired. Speaker of the Assembly William J. Hamilton won the open seat.
• District 20: Alexander J. Menza (Union) retired to run for U.S. Senator. Union Township councilman Anthony E. Russo won the open seat.
• District 39: Raymond Garramone (Bergen) retired to run for Governor. Former Bergen County Freeholder Frank Herbert won the open seat.

Democratic gains

• District 35: Republican Frank Davenport did not seek re-election. Frank X. Graves Jr., the mayor of Paterson, defeated former Assemblyman Alfred Fontanella.^[13]

Republican holds

• District 11: Alfred N. Beadleston (Monmouth) retired. Former Monmouth County Surrogate S. Thomas Gagliano won the open seat.
• District 17: Raymond Bateman (Somserset) retired to run for Governor. Assemblyman John H. Ewing won the open seat.

Republican gains

• District 6: Alene Ammond (Camden) lost the Democratic primary to Victor Pachter; Pachter lost the general election to Republican Lee Laskin, a former Assemblyman.^[14]
• District 14: Anne Clark Martindell (Mercer) was appointed U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand in May, leaving her seat vacant; Republican Walter E. Foran, an Assemblyman from Hunterdon County, won the open seat.

Notes and References

1. Book: Fitzgerald's New Jersey Legislative Manual. 1976. Joseph J. Gribbons.
2. Book: Fitzgerald's New Jersey Legislative Manual. 1978. Joseph J. Gribbons.
3. Web site: Results of the General Election . 4 December 2014 . New Jersey Division of Elections . State of New Jersey.
4. News: Janson . Donald . 5 March 1977 . Perskie Likely to Oppose mcgahn in Senate Race . New York Times.
5. Web site: Our Campaigns .
6. Web site: Results of the Primary Election . 4 December 2014 . New Jersey Division of Elections . State of New Jersey.
7. News: NARVAEZ . ALFONSO A. . 17 October 1977 . Democrats Running Strong in Campaigns in 13th, 17th and 21st Districts . New York Times.
8. Web site: Our Campaigns . 4 December 2014.
9. Web site: Our Campaigns . 4 December 2014.
10. Web site: Results of the General Election . 4 December 2014 . New Jersey Division of Elections . State of New Jersey.
11. News: NARVAEZ . ALFONSO A. . 10 October 1977 . G.O.P. Expected to Maintain Strength In Morris, Union and Essex Counties . New York Times.
12. Web site: Results of the General Election . 4 December 2014 . New Jersey Division of Elections . State of New Jersey.
13. Web site: Our Campaigns . 4 December 2014.
14. Web site: Our Campaigns . 4 December 2014.