The 1973 New Jersey State Senate Senate elections coincided with Brendan Byrne's victory in the gubernatorial election. Byrne's large margin of victory over Republican Charles W. Sandman, Jr.—he won by 721,378 votes helped Democrats gain 13 seats in the State Senate, giving Democrats control, 29-10, with one Independent. Republicans were also not helped by a divisive primary that saw the incumbent, William Cahill, a moderate, lose to the more conservative Sandman. Cahill barely supported Sandman in the general election. This election marked the first time since 1967 that Democrats controlled the State Senate.
History
For the first time, the state was to be divided into 40 legislative districts, with each district electing one State Senator and two members of the General Assembly. The districts were drawn first to achieve a population balance, and then to be as geographically compact as possible. Many districts included parts of several counties. Some districts had more than one incumbent. Until 1965, the New Jersey State Senate was composed of 21 Senators, with each county electing one Senator. After the U.S. Supreme Court, in Reynolds v. Sims, required redistricting by state legislatures for congressional districts to keep represented populations equal, as well as requiring both houses of state legislatures to have districts drawn that contained roughly equal populations, and to perform redistricting when needed. In 1965, the Senate was increased from 21 members to 29 members, and larger counties were given more than one seat, and some smaller counties shared one or two Senators. The map was changed again in 1967, and again in 1971, as the state adjusted to the one man, one vote ruling.
Gains and Losses
Nine incumbent Republican Senators were defeated for re-election:
Two incumbent Republican Senators were elected to Congress in 1972 and resigned their State Senate seats in January 1973 to take their seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Both seats were won by Democrats:
One incumbent Republican Senator was defeated for renomination in the June primary and Republicans held that seat:
District 22: Jerome Epstein, succeeded by Republican Peter J. McDonough, an Assemblyman from Union County. McDonough won 60%-40% over the incumbent, who was facing an indictment.
Five incumbent Democratic Senators did not seek re-election in 1973. Democrats won four of those seats, and the fifth was one by an Independent:
District 18: J. Edward Crabiel, who briefly sought the 1973 Democratic nomination for Governor, succeeded by Democrat Bernard Dwyer, the Mayor of Edison.
District 19: Norman Tanzman, succeeded by Democrat John Fay, an Assemblyman from Middlesex County.
District 28: Ralph DeRose, who lost to Brendan Byrne in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, succeeded by Democrat Martin L. Greenberg, who was Byrne's law partner.
Democrats chose Frank J. Dodd as the Senate President and Matthew Feldman as Majority Leader; Republicans named the outgoing Senate President, Alfred Beadleston as Minority Leader.
