1961 New Jersey Senate election

1961 New Jersey Senate elections

November 5, 1961
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 11 10 Seats won 11 10 Seat change Seats up 6 4 Races won 6 4
Senate President before election William E. Ozzard Republican Elected Senate President William E. Ozzard Republican

The 1961 New Jersey State Senate elections were held on November 5.

The elections took place alongside the election of Governor Richard J. Hughes. Ten of New Jersey's 21 counties elected Senators; no seats changed hands.

Incumbents not running for re-election

Democratic

All four Democratic Senators up for re-election ran for another term.

Republican

• Walter H. Jones (Bergen) (ran for Governor)
• Wesley Lance (Hunterdon)

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	Pierce Deamer		Rep
Burlington	Henry S. Haines		Dem	No election
Camden	Joseph W. Cowgill		Dem	No election
Cape May	Charles W. Sandman		Rep	No election
Cumberland	Robert H. Weber		Dem	Robert H. Weber		Dem
Essex	Donal C. Fox		Dem	No election
Gloucester	Thomas F. Connery Jr.		Dem	No election
Hudson	William F. Kelley Jr.		Dem	William F. Kelly Jr.		Dem
Hunterdon	Wesley Lance		Rep	Raymond Bowkley		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	Anthony J. Grossi		Dem	Anthony J. Grossi		Dem
Salem	John A. Waddington		Dem	No election
Somerset	William E. Ozzard		Rep	No election
Sussex	George B. Harper		Rep	George B. Harper		Rep
Union	Robert C. Crane		Rep	No election
Warren	Wayne Dumont		Rep	No election

Close races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Ocean, 5.74%
2. Hunterdon, 5.76%
3. Cumberland, 9.27%

Atlantic

1961 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Frank S. Farley (incumbent)	34,949	57.93%
	Democratic	John M. Keeley	25,381	42.07%
Total votes			60,330	100.0%

Bergen

1961 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Pierce H. Deamer Jr.	160,125	55.81%
	Democratic	Fred C. Galda	124,492	43.39%
	Conservative	Irving F. Kent	1,626	0.57%
	Socialist Labor	Nathan Karp	668	0.23%
Total votes			286,911	100.0%

Cumberland

1961 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Robert H. Weber (incumbent)	19,123	54.61%
	Republican	Carlton E. Mason	15,875	45.34%
	Socialist Labor	Walter C. Wright	18	0.05%
Total votes			35,016	100.0%

Hudson

1961 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	William F. Kelley Jr. (incumbent)	136,987	60.71%
	Republican	Norman H. Roth	86,914	38.52%
	Conservative	Clifford R. Ensslin	1,731	0.77%
Total votes			225,632	100.0%

Hunterdon

1961 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Raymond E. Bowkley	10,629	52.33%
	Democratic	Frank W. Bohren	9,458	46.57%
	Conservative	Robert W. Harris	223	1.10%
Total votes			20,310	100.0%

Mercer

1961 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Sido L. Ridolfi (incumbent)	57,895	64.45%
	Republican	Daniel A. O'Donnell	31,929	35.55%
Total votes			89,824	100.0%

Remarkably, Senator Ridolfi received the exact same number of votes he had received in 1957.

Morris

1961 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Thomas J. Hillery (incumbent)	57,917	68.00%
	Democratic	Edward A. Dunbar	27,259	32.00%
Total votes			85,176	100.0%

Ocean

1961 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	W. Steelman Mathis (incumbent)	22,010	52.87%
	Democratic	Albert J. Cucci	19,624	47.13%
Total votes			41,634	100.0%

Passaic

1961 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Anthony J. Grossi (incumbent)	72,676	55.13%
	Republican	Paul G. DeMuro	58,080	44.06%
	Conservative	Charles R. Checkley	804	0.61%
	Socialist	Harry Santhouse	255	0.19%
Total votes			131,815	100.0%

Sussex

1961 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	George B. Harper (incumbent)	10,670	54.95%
	Democratic	Frank A. Dolan	8,749	45.05%
Total votes			19,419	100.0%