United States Senate election in New Jersey, 1982

United States Senate election in New Jersey, 1982
New Jersey
November 2, 1982
 
Nominee Frank Lautenberg Millicent Fenwick
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 1,117,549 1,047,626
Percentage 50.94% 47.75%
U.S. Senator before election

Nicholas F. Brady
Republican

 Elected U.S. Senator

Frank Lautenberg
Democratic

The 1982 United States Senate election in New Jersey was held on November 2, 1982. Democrat Frank Lautenberg won for the seat held by retiring incumbent Republican Senator Nicholas Brady. Lautenberg won the seat with a margin of 3.19% over U.S. Representative Millicent Fenwick.

Candidates

Democratic

Cresitello dropped out of the race on May 27 but remained on the June 8 primary ballot.[2]

Results

Democratic Party primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Frank Lautenberg 104,666 25.97
Democratic Andrew Maguire 92,878 23.05
Democratic Joseph A. LeFante 81,440 20.21
Democratic Barbara Boggs Sigmund 45,708 11.34
Democratic Howard Rosen 28,427 7.05
Democratic Angelo Bianchi 17,684 4.39
Democratic Cyril Yannarelli 10,188 2.53
Democratic Frank Forst 9,563 2.37
Democratic Richard D. McAleer 8,110 2.01
Democratic Donald Cresitello 4,295 1.07
Total votes 402,959 100.00

Republican

Results

Republican Party primary results[3]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Millicent Fenwick 193,683 54.28
Republican Jeff Bell 163,145 45.72
Total votes 356,828 100.00

General election campaign

The seat had been occupied by Democrat Harrison A. Williams, who resigned on March 11, 1982, after being implicated in the Abscam scandal. After Williams' resignation, Republican Governor Thomas Kean appointed Republican Nicholas F. Brady to the seat. Brady served in the Senate through the primary and general elections but did not run for the seat himself.

In the general election, Lautenberg faced popular Republican congresswoman Millicent Fenwick. She ran on a very progressive platform and polls in the Summer of 1982 put her ahead by 18 points. Even Lautenberg quipped that she was "the most popular candidate in the country."[4] Lautenberg spent more of his own money, eventually out-spending Fenwick two-to-one. He emphasised President Reagan's unpopularity, reminded the voters that she would be a vote for a Republican majority in the Senate and called Fenwick, who was 72, "eccentric" and "erratic" but denied that he was referring to her age.[4][5] He did however point out that she would be almost 80 at the end of her first term and was therefore unlikely to gain much seniority in the Senate.[4] Coincidentally, the age issue would be used against Lautenberg in his own re-election bid in 2008.

Lautenberg won by 51% to 48%, in what was considered a major upset.[4] Brady, who had just a few days left in his appointed term, resigned on December 27, 1982, allowing Lautenberg to take office several days before the traditional swearing-in of senators, which gave him an edge in seniority over the other freshman senators.

Results

General election results[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Democratic Frank Lautenberg 1,117,549 50.94%
Republican Millicent Fenwick 1,047,626 47.75%
Libertarian Henry Koch 9,934 0.45%
Socialist Labor Julius Levin 5,580 0.25%
Independent Martin E. Wendelken 4,745 0.22%
Socialist Workers Claire Moriarty 3,726 0.17%
Grassroots Robert T. Bastien 2,955 0.14%
Repeal TF 807 Rose Zeidwerg Monyek 1,830 0.08%
Turnout 2,193,945 100.00%
Democratic gain from Republican Swing

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Normal, Michael (May 13, 1982). "9 IN JERSEY RACE FOR U.S. SENATE ADDRESS ELDERLY". The New York Times. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Cresitello Quits Jersey Senate Race". The New York Times. May 28, 1982. Retrieved June 25, 2016. TRENTON, May 27— Former Mayor Donald Cresitello of Morristown withdrew today from the race for the Democratic nomination for United States Senator and endorsed former Representative Joseph A. LeFante of Bayonne.
  3. 1 2 "Republican and Democratic Candidates for the Office of United States Senator" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1982. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Kornacki, Steve (January 14, 2013). "When Lautenberg's Age Met Booker's Ambition: An Elegy for the Swamp Dog". Capital New York. Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  5. ↑ Arnold, Laurence (June 3, 2013). "Frank Lautenberg, U.S. Senator From New Jersey, Dies at 89". Bloomberg News. Retrieved June 6, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Votes Cast for the Office of United States Senator" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. 1982. Retrieved June 25, 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.