The 1977

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

State Senate election coincided with

Brendan Byrne Brendan Thomas Byrne (April 1, 1924 – January 4, 2018) was an American politician, statesman, and prosecutor, serving as the 47th governor of New Jersey from 1974 to 1982. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrne started his career as a privat ...

's re-election to a second term as

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...

. The election coincided with Governor

's re-election over Senator

Raymond Bateman Raymond H. "Ray" Bateman (October 29, 1927 – June 25, 2016) was an American politician who represented Somerset County, New Jersey, Somerset County in the New Jersey Senate in the 1960s and 1970s and was the Republican candidate for Governor of ...

. 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. This is last time Democrats held a veto-proof majority in the chamber.

Incumbents not running for re-election

Democratic

John A. Lynch Sr. John A. Lynch Sr. (March 10, 1908 – March 3, 1978) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey Senate for 22 years, where he represented the New Jersey's 17th legislative distric ...

(District 17) * Alexander J. Menza (District 20) ( ran for U.S. Senator) * Raymond Garramone (District 39) ( ran for Governor)

Republican

Alfred N. Beadleston Alfred Nash Beadleston, Jr. (February 20, 1912 – January 18, 2000) was an American Republican Party politician who served as Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly and President of the New Jersey Senate. Biography Beadleston was born ...

(District 11) *

(District 16) ( ran for Governor) *

Frank Davenport Frank Davenport (March 19, 1912 – January 5, 1995) was an American Republican Party politician who served as the Sheriff of Passaic County, New Jersey and served one term in the New Jersey Senate. Davenport was born in Paterson in 1912 and ...

(District 35)

Summary of results by district

Incumbents defeated

In primary elections

Democratic

* District 2: Joseph McGahn (Atlantic) lost party support to

Steven P. Perskie Steven P. Perskie (born January 10, 1945 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a former New Jersey Superior Court judge in Atlantic City, New Jersey and a former Democratic Party politician from Margate City, New Jersey. Perskie served as a member of ...

, an Assemblyman from Atlantic County. * District 6: Alene Ammond (Camden) lost the primary to Victor Pachter. * District 7:

Edward J. Hughes Edward J. Hughes (July 26, 1888 – June 28, 1944) was an American politician. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Hughes studied law and then switched to engineering. Hughes served in the Illinois State Senate from 1914 to 1930 as a Democratic Party ...

(Burlington) lost the primary to

Charles B. Yates Charles B. Yates (September 27, 1939 – October 6, 2000) was an American politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1972 to 1978 and in the New Jersey Senate from 1978 to 1982. A resident of Edgewater Park, New Jersey, he d ...

. * 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. * District 31: James P. Dugan (Hudson) lost the primary to

Wally Sheil Walter N. "Wally" Sheil (April 15, 1929 – June 23, 2002) was an American academic administrator and politician from Jersey City, New Jersey, who served in the New Jersey Senate as a Democrat from 1978 to 1982, and ran as Republican candidate for ...

, the President of

Hudson County Community College Hudson County Community College (HCCC) is a public community college in Hudson County, New Jersey. Locations The school's main campus is located in Jersey City, with several institutions tapered throughout Journal Square and nearby Bergen Squar ...

. * District 32:

Joseph W. Tumulty Joseph W. Tumulty (October 1, 1914 – December 20, 1996) was an American Democratic Party politician from Jersey City, New Jersey who represented the 32nd Legislative District for one term in the New Jersey Senate. He was the nephew of White Ho ...

(Hudson) lost the primary to

David Friedland David Joel Friedland (December 20, 1937 – April 21, 2022) was an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician from Hudson County, who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1966 to 1974 and then was elected to the Senate, serving f ...

, a former Assemblyman from Hudson County.

In general elections

Democratic

* District 10: Herbert Buehler (Monmouth) lost to Republican Brian Kennedy, a former Assemblyman from Monmouth County. * District 23:

Stephen Wiley Stephen Wiley (born 1958) is an American rapper and minister, who is often credited as the first artist to release a Christian rap album. Page 3 Biography Wiley was born in 1958 and grew up in Muskogee, Oklahoma. A University of Oklahoma gradua ...

(Morris) lost to Republican

John H. Dorsey John H. Dorsey (December 26, 1937 — December 16, 2018) was an American attorney and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature from 1976 to 1994, serving in the New Jers ...

, an Assemblyman from Morris County.

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 Anthony M. Imperiale Sr. (July 10, 1931 – December 27, 1999) was a member of the New Jersey Legislature from Newark, New Jersey. Early life He was born on July 10, 1931, in Newark, New Jersey. He later served in the United States Marine Corp ...

(Essex) was defeated by Democrat

Frank E. Rodgers Francis E. Rodgers (November 15, 1909 – February 8, 2000) was an American Democratic Party politician who was among the longest-serving mayors in U.S. history, first elected in 1946 as Mayor of Harrison, New Jersey. He served in the position fo ...

, the mayor of Harrison.

Open seats

Democratic holds

* District 17:

(Middlesex) retired. Speaker of the Assembly

William J. Hamilton William J. Hamilton Jr. (December 26, 1932 – October 10, 2019) was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey, who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature, where he represented Middlesex County. He was Speaker of the ...

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 Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Frank Herbert Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 novel '' Dune'' and its five sequels. Though he became famous for his novels, he also wrote short stories and worked a ...

won the open seat.

Democratic gains

* District 35: Republican

did not seek re-election.

Frank X. Graves Jr. Frank Xavier Graves Jr. (November 4, 1923 – March 4, 1990) was an American Democratic Party politician who is best known for serving two separate terms as Mayor of Paterson, New Jersey. He also served on the Paterson City Council, the Pass ...

, the mayor of Paterson, defeated former Assemblyman Alfred Fontanella.

Republican holds

*District 11:

(Monmouth) retired. Former Monmouth County Surrogate S. Thomas Gagliano won the open seat. *District 17:

(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 Lee B. Laskin (born June 30, 1936) is an American attorney, politician and judge who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature before being appointed to serve on the New Jersey Superior Court. Personal life Born in Atlantic City, New J ...

, a former Assemblyman. * District 14:

Anne Clark Martindell Anne Clark Martindell (July 18, 1914 – June 11, 2008) was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey, as well as a diplomat who served as United States Ambassador to New Zealand from 1979 to 1981. Early life and family Anne Cl ...

(Mercer) was appointed U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand in May, leaving her seat vacant; Republican

Walter E. Foran Walter Edge "Moose" Foran (May 14, 1919 – December 8, 1986) was an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey, who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature. He followed in the footsteps of his father, Arthur F. Foran, wh ...

, an Assemblyman from Hunterdon County, won the open seat.

District 1

District 2

District 3

District 4

District 5

District 6

District 7

District 8

District 9

District 10

District 11

District 12

District 13

District 14

District 15

District 16

District 17

District 18

District 19

District 20

District 21

District 22

District 23

District 24

District 25

District 26

District 27

District 28

District 29

District 30

District 31

District 32

District 33

District 34

District 35

District 36

District 37

District 38

District 39

District 40

Leadership

Democrats chose

Joseph P. Merlino Joseph P. Merlino (July 12, 1922 – October 7, 1998) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as President of the New Jersey Senate from 1978 to 1981. Early life and career Merlino was born in 1922 in Trenton, New Jersey, th ...

as the Senate President and

Carmen Orechio Carmen Anthony Orechio (November 4, 1926 – February 26, 2018) was an American politician who served as President of the New Jersey Senate and as Commissioner and Mayor of Nutley, New Jersey. Early life and education Orechio was born in 1926 in ...

as Majority Leader; Republicans named Garrett Hagedorn as Minority Leader.

References

{{1977 United States elections 1977 New Jersey elections

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic R ...