1983 New Jersey Senate election

1983 New Jersey Senate elections

← 1981

November 8, 1983

1987 →

All 40 seats in the New Jersey State Senate
21 seats needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party

Leader	Carmen A. Orechio	Donald DiFrancesco
Party	Democratic	Republican
Leader's seat	13th	22nd
Last election	22	18
Seats before	21	19
Seats won	23	17
Seat change	2	2

Results by district
Democratic hold Democratic gain
Republican hold Republican gain

Senate President before election

Carmen A. Orechio
Democratic

Elected Senate President

Carmen A. Orechio
Democratic

The 1983 New Jersey Senate election was held on November 8.

The election took place mid-way through the first term of Governor Thomas Kean. Democrats gained a net of two seats.

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

Herman T. Costello (District 7)
Frank E. Rodgers (District 32)
Nicholas LaRocca (District 33) (ran for Assembly)

Summary of results by State Senate district

District	Incumbent		Elected Senator
1st Legislative District	James R. Hurley	Rep	James R. Hurley	Rep
2nd Legislative District	William Gormley	Rep	William Gormley	Rep
3rd Legislative District	Raymond Zane	Dem	Raymond Zane	Dem
4th Legislative District	Daniel Dalton	Dem	Daniel Dalton	Dem
5th Legislative District	Walter Rand	Dem	Walter Rand	Dem
6th Legislative District	Lee Laskin	Rep	Lee Laskin	Rep
7th Legislative District	Herman T. Costello	Dem	Catherine A. Costa	Dem
8th Legislative District	Jim Saxton	Rep	Jim Saxton	Rep
9th Legislative District	Leonard T. Connors	Rep	Leonard T. Connors	Rep
10th Legislative District	John F. Russo	Dem	John F. Russo	Dem
11th Legislative District	Brian T. Kennedy	Rep	Frank Pallone	Dem
12th Legislative District	S. Thomas Gagliano	Rep	S. Thomas Gagliano	Rep
13th Legislative District	John P. Gallagher	Rep	Richard Van Wagner	Dem
14th Legislative District	Francis J. McManimon	Dem	Francis J. McManimon	Dem
15th Legislative District	Gerald R. Stockman	Dem	Gerald R. Stockman	Dem
16th Legislative District	John H. Ewing	Rep	John H. Ewing	Rep
17th Legislative District	John A. Lynch Jr.	Dem	John A. Lynch Jr.	Dem
18th Legislative District	James Bornheimer	Dem	Peter P. Garibaldi	Rep
19th Legislative District	Laurence Weiss	Dem	Laurence Weiss	Dem
20th Legislative District	Raymond Lesniak	Dem	Raymond Lesniak	Dem
21st Legislative District	C. Louis Bassano	Rep	C. Louis Bassano	Rep
22nd Legislative District	Donald DiFrancesco	Rep	Donald DiFrancesco	Rep
23rd Legislative District	Walter E. Foran	Rep	Walter E. Foran	Rep
24th Legislative District	Wayne Dumont	Rep	Wayne Dumont	Rep
25th Legislative District	John H. Dorsey	Rep	John H. Dorsey	Rep
26th Legislative District	James P. Vreeland	Rep	Leanna Brown	Rep
27th Legislative District	Richard Codey	Dem	Richard Codey	Dem
28th Legislative District	John P. Caufield	Dem	John P. Caufield	Dem
29th Legislative District	Wynona Lipman	Dem	Wynona Lipman	Dem
30th Legislative District	Carmen Orechio	Dem	Carmen Orechio	Dem
31st Legislative District	Edward T. O'Connor Jr.	Dem	Edward T. O'Connor Jr.	Dem
32nd Legislative District	Frank E. Rodgers	Dem	Thomas F. Cowan	Dem
33rd Legislative District	Nicholas LaRocca	Dem	Christopher Jackman	Dem
34th Legislative District	Joseph Bubba	Rep	Joseph Bubba	Rep
35th Legislative District	Frank X. Graves Jr.	Dem	Frank X. Graves Jr.	Dem
36th Legislative District	Joseph Hirkala	Dem	Joseph Hirkala	Dem
37th Legislative District	Matthew Feldman	Dem	Matthew Feldman	Dem
38th Legislative District	John Paolella	Rep	Paul Contillo	Dem
39th Legislative District	Gerald Cardinale	Rep	Gerald Cardinale	Rep
40th Legislative District	Garrett Hagedorn	Rep	Garrett Hagedorn	Rep

Gormley won a September 1982 special election to complete the unexpired term of Senator Steven P. Perskie, who resigned to become a judge of the New Jersey Superior Court.

Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

District 21, 1.0%
District 18, 1.2%
District 38, 1.4%
District 12, 1.8%
District 11, 1.9%
District 34, 2.0%
District 39, 2.4%
District 13, 8.2%
District 30, 9.6%

District 1

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	James R. Hurley (incumbent)	30,141	59.8%	6.0
	Democratic	Christopher H. Riley	20,232	40.2%	6.0
Total votes			50,373	100.00%

District 2

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	William Gormley (incumbent)	27,616	56.8%	15.5
	Democratic	Arlene Groch	19,937	41.0%	16.0
	Senate Independent	James T. Hagen	1,062	2.2%	1.3
Total votes			48,615	100.00%

District 3

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Raymond Zane (incumbent)	30,179	63.0%	0.2
	Republican	Mary Ruth Talley	17,743	37.0%	0.2
Total votes			47,922	100.00%

District 4

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Daniel Dalton	21,891	63.9%	0.6
	Republican	Christopher Michaele	12,379	36.1%	0.6
Total votes			34,270	100.00%

District 5

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Walter Rand (incumbent)	23,446	66.0%	6.0
	Republican	Gregory B. Montgomery	12,090	34.0%	6.0
Total votes			35,536	100.00%

District 6

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Lee B. Laskin (incumbent)	29,783	63.3%	6.6
	Democratic	Francis J. Ward	17,235	36.7%	6.6
Total votes			47,018	100.00%

District 7

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Catherine A. Costa	26,697	63.1%	6.0
	Republican	Henry W. Metzger	15,616	36.9%	6.0
Total votes			42,313	100.00%

District 8

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jim Saxton (incumbent)	22,714	63.1%	2.6
	Democratic	Charles H. Ryan	13,303	36.9%	2.6
Total votes			36,017	100.00%

District 9

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Leonard T. Connors (incumbent)	31,028	63.3	1.1
	Democratic	Anthony M. Sellitto, Jr.	17,989	36.7	1.1
Total votes			49,017	100.00%

District 10

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John F. Russo (incumbent)	31,807	63.3	4.7
	Republican	Bob Fall	18,413	36.7	4.7
Total votes			50,220	100.00%

District 11

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Frank Pallone	24,339	50.4%	9.3
	Republican	Brian T. Kennedy (incumbent)	23,412	48.5%	9.3
	Bull Moose	Edgar Van Houten	508	1.1%	N/A
Total votes			48,259	100.00%

District 12

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	S. Thomas Gagliano (incumbent)	24,294	50.9%	8.2
	Democratic	Alexander D. Lehrer	23,414	49.1%	8.2
Total votes			47,708	100.00%

District 13

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Richard Van Wagner	26,522	54.1%	5.7
	Republican	John P. Gallagher (incumbent)	22,508	45.9%	5.7
Total votes			49,030	100.00%

District 14

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Francis J. McManimon (incumbent)	30,376	63.5%	5.8
	Republican	Charles B. W. Durand	17,448	36.5%	5.8
Total votes			47,824	100.00%

District 15

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Gerald R. Stockman (incumbent)	29,967	67.3%	10.9
	Republican	Robert A. Gladstone	14,543	32.7%	10.9
Total votes			44,510	100.00%

District 16

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John H. Ewing (incumbent)	27,383	67.4%	1.9
	Democratic	Alfred A. Wicklund	13,242	32.6%	1.9
Total votes			40,625	100.00%

District 17

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John A. Lynch Jr. (incumbent)	19,703	65.3%	4.7
	Republican	Frank A. Santoro	10,449	34.7%	1.2
Total votes			30,152	100.00%

District 18

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Peter P. Garibaldi	24,397	47.9%	0.0
	Democratic	James W. Bornheimer (incumbent)	23,814	46.7%	5.4
	Independent	Robert S. Maurer	2,769	5.4%	N/A
Total votes			50,980	100.00%

District 19

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Laurence S. Weiss (incumbent)	28,251	59.0	1.4
	Republican	James W. Inman	19,603	41.0	1.4
Total votes			47,854	100.00%

District 20

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Raymond Lesniak (incumbent)	23,246	64.5%	0.6
	Republican	Alfred D. Palermo	11,868	32.9%	5.4
	Inflation Fighting Housewife	Rose Zeidwerg Monyek	389	1.1%	2.4
	Beam the Bomb	Joseph P. Scanlon	305	0.8%	N/A
	Independent	Harold J. Young	217	0.6%	3.3
Total votes			36,025	100.00%

District 21

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	C. Louis Bassano (incumbent)	29,300	50.5%	1.4
	Democratic	Anthony E. Russo	28,734	49.5%	1.4
Total votes			58,034	100.00%

District 22

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Donald DiFrancesco (incumbent)	29,005	66.6%	1.3
	Democratic	Thomas M. McCormack	14,576	33.4%	1.3
Total votes			43,581	100.00%

District 23

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Walter E. Foran (incumbent)	27,224	69.2%	5.9
	Democratic	William Martin, Jr.	12,101	30.8%	5.9
Total votes			39,325	100.00%

District 24

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Wayne Dumont (incumbent)	29,279	75.6%	1.8
	Democratic	Clarence W. Sickles	9,431	24.4%	1.8
Total votes			38,710	100.00%

District 25

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	John H. Dorsey (incumbent)	25,529	65.4%	2.6
	Democratic	Allen Hantman	13,524	34.6%	2.6
Total votes			39,053	100.0

District 26

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Leanna Brown	24,348	68.2%	1.7
	Democratic	Anthony Calvino	11,342	31.8%	1.7
Total votes			35,690	100.00%

District 27

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Richard Codey (incumbent)	18,943	75.2%	1.3
	Republican	James J. Brown	6,255	24.8%	1.3
Total votes			25,198	100.00%

District 28

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	John P. Caufield (incumbent)	11,829	72.9%	2.1
	Republican	Joseph N. Mastrangelo	4,392	27.1%	2.1
Total votes			16,221	100.00%

District 29

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Wynona Lipman (incumbent)	12,906	85.5	2.8
	Republican	Willie M. Brascher	2,182	14.5	2.8
Total votes			15,088	100.00%

District 30

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Carmen A. Orechio (incumbent)	28,613	53.8%	4.4
	Republican	Ralph J. Salerno	23,523	44.2%	3.5
	Regular Organization	Martin G. Scaturo	1,061	2.0%	N/A
Total votes			53,197	100.00%

District 31

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Edward T. O'Connor Jr. (incumbent)	23,894	80.7%	5.3
	Republican	Helen Kozak	5,698	19.3%	5.3
Total votes			29,592	100.00%

District 32

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Thomas F. Cowan	23,510	63.8%	0.4
	Republican	Joseph A. Plonski	11,997	32.6%	1.8
	Politicians Are Crooks	Herbert H. Shaw	1,318	3.6	1.4
Total votes			36,825	100.00%

District 33

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Christopher Jackman	18,916	66.5%	15.7
	Republican	Carlos E. Munoz	9,532	33.5%	15.7 (23.4)
Total votes			28,448	100.00%

District 34

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Joseph Bubba (incumbent)	23,993	51.0%	1.7
	Democratic	James W. Roe	23,019	49.0%	1.7
Total votes			47,012	100.00%

District 35

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Frank X. Graves Jr. (incumbent)	23,646	74.3%	0.3
	Republican	Richard Fontanella	8,161	25.7%	0.3
Total votes			31,807	100.00%

District 36

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Joseph Hirkala (incumbent)	28,325	58.3%	2.9
	Republican	Joseph F. Job	20,222	41.7%	0.3
Total votes			48,547	100.00%

District 37

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Matthew Feldman (incumbent)	32,645	64.3%	2.6
	Republican	Michael L. Kingman	18,143	35.7%	2.6
Total votes			50,788	100.00%

District 38

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Paul Contillo	22,422	50.7%	4.2
	Republican	John B. Paolella (incumbent)	21,827	49.3%	1.7
Total votes			44,249	100.00%

District 39

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Gerald Cardinale (incumbent)	27,199	51.2%	7.0
	Democratic	Francis Herbert	25,942	48.8%	7.0
Total votes			53,141	100.0

District 40

1983 general election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Garrett W. Hagedorn (incumbent)	28,755	65.5%	1.3
	Democratic	Charles F. Ryan	15,152	34.5%	1.3
Total votes			43,907	100.00%

References

^ "Candidates for the Offices of State Senate and General Assembly" (PDF). Retrieved June 26, 2021.

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