1957 New Jersey Senate election

1957 New Jersey Senate elections

November 5, 1957
10 of the 21 seats in the New Jersey State Senate 11 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Party Republican Democratic Seats before 14 7 Seats won 13 8 Seat change 1 1 Seats up 6 3 Races won 7 4
Senate President before election Republican Elected Senate President Republican

The 1957 New Jersey Senate elections were held on November 5.

The elections coincided with the re-election of Governor Robert Meyner. Ten of New Jersey's 21 counties elected Senators. Democrats gained one seat in Passaic County, where Anthony J. Grossi unseated incumbent Republican Frank W. Shershin.

Incumbents not running for re-election

Democratic

• James F. Murray Jr. (Hudson)^[1]

Summary of results by county

County	Incumbent	Party		Elected Senator	Party
Atlantic	Frank S. Farley		Rep	Frank S. Farley		Rep
Bergen	Walter H. Jones		Rep	Walter H. Jones		Rep
Burlington	Albert McCay		Rep	No election
Camden	Joseph W. Cowgill		Dem	No election
Cape May	Charles W. Sandman		Rep	No election
Cumberland	W. Howard Sharp		Dem	W. Howard Sharp		Dem
Essex	Donal C. Fox		Dem	No election
Gloucester	Harold W. Hannold		Rep	No election
Hudson	James F. Murray Jr.		Dem	William F. Kelly Jr.		Dem
Hunterdon	Wesley Lance		Rep	Wesley Lance		Rep
Mercer	Sido Ridolfi		Dem	Sido Ridolfi		Dem
Middlesex	John A. Lynch		Dem	No election
Monmouth	Richard R. Stout		Rep	No election
Morris	Thomas J. Hillery		Rep	Thomas J. Hillery		Rep
Ocean	W. Steelman Mathis		Rep	W. Steelman Mathis		Rep
Passaic	Frank W. Shershin		Rep	Anthony J. Grossi		Dem
Salem	John A. Waddington		Dem	No election
Somerset	Malcolm Forbes		Rep	No election
Sussex	George B. Harper		Rep	George B. Harper		Rep
Union	Kenneth Hand		Rep	No election
Warren	Wayne Dumont		Rep	No election

Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Sussex, 8.86%
2. Cumberland, 8.92%

Seats where the margin of victory was 10% or greater; and the seat flipped party control:

1. Passaic, 11.45% gain

Atlantic

1957 general election^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Frank S. Farley (incumbent)	33,225	62.03%
	Democratic	Ernest M. Curtis	20,341	37.97%
Total votes			53,566	100.0%

Bergen

1957 general election^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Walter H. Jones (incumbent)	153,902	57.36%
	Democratic	Louis A. D'Agosto	114,407	42.64%
Total votes			268,309	100.0%

Cumberland

1957 general election^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	W. Howard Sharp (incumbent)	16,270	50.55%
	Republican	Charles E. Gant	13,400	41.63%
	Independent	Thomas A. Dailey	2,517	7.82%
Total votes			32,187	100.0%

Hudson

1957 general election^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	William F. Kelley Jr.	142,518	59.69%
	Republican	Louis J. Miller	92,803	38.87%
	Independent	Julius G. Tassano	1,458	0.61%
	Independent	Arthur V. Murphy Jr.	1,270	0.53%
	Independent	Vincent A. Riley	456	0.19%
Total votes			238,778	100.0%

Hunterdon

1957 general election^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Wesley Lance (incumbent)	10,802	59.19%
	Democratic	Franklin W. Kielb	7,447	40.81%
Total votes			18,249	100.0%

Mercer

1957 general election^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Sido L. Ridolfi (incumbent)	57,895	66.99%
	Republican	Fred Van Deventer	28,531	33.01%
Total votes			86,426	100.0%

Morris

1957 general election^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Thomas J. Hillery (incumbent)	48,414	65.27%
	Democratic	F. Milton Hoth	25,764	34.73%
Total votes			74,178	100.0%

Ocean

1957 general election^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	W. Steelman Mathis (incumbent)	18,152	58.02%
	Democratic	Nathaniel H. Roth	13,136	41.98%
Total votes			31,288	100.0%

Passaic

1957 general election^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Anthony J. Grossi	68,515	51.76%
	Republican	Frank W. Shershin (incumbent)	53,368	40.31%
	Independent	William R. Brogan	10,495	7.93%
Total votes			132,378	100.0%

Sussex

1957 general election^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	George B. Harper (incumbent)	9,426	54.43%
	Democratic	James Dobbins	7,893	45.57%
Total votes			17,319	100.0%

See also

• List of New Jersey state legislatures

References

1. Cable Right, George (September 27, 1957). "MURRAY TO LEAVE SENATE IN JERSEY; Tells Meyner He Won't Seek Re-election but Will Run Slate in Hudson County Meyner Kept Hands Off Kenny Holds Unity Meeting". The New York Times. p. 9. Retrieved August 15, 2021. State Senator James F. Murray Jr. announced here today after an hour-long talk with Gov. Robert B. Meyner that he would not seek re-election to the Senate.
2. "Results of the General Election Held November 5th, 1957" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State.