The 1982 United States Senate election in New Jersey was held on November 2, 1982. The seat was effectively vacated by the resignation of Harrison Williams amid scandal in March; his appointed successor, Nicholas F. Brady, did not run.
Democratic businessman Frank Lautenberg won the seat in a major upset, defeating a large field of eight Democratic candidates and Republican Millicent Fenwick, a popular, well-known U.S. Representative. Lautenberg's campaign was largely self-funded and overcame early polling leads for Fenwick by outspending her 2-to-1 and emphasizing the persistently poor economic conditions under Republican President Ronald Reagan and the conservative Congress.
Background
Interim appointment 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.
Congressional redistricting
Republican primary Candidates Millicent Fenwick, U.S. Representative from Bernardsville Jeff Bell, political consultant and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1978
Withdrew Robert J. Morris, anti-communist activist and candidate in 1960 (withdrew May 8 and remained neutral)
Declined Nicholas Brady, incumbent Senator (appointed April 12) and businessman Jim Courter, U.S. Representative from Hackettstown
Campaign Fenwick, an extremely popular Congresswoman, centered much of her primary campaign on her electability, name recognition, and ability to win down-ballot races for local Republican candidates. Bell framed himself as a strong supporter, or even architect, of President Reagan's economic platform, blaming the Federal Reserve Board's high interest rates for slow economic growth. Fenwick instead blamed the large federal budget deficit and called for cuts to public works spending, while preserving social services. The New York Times therefore framed the race as a referendum on the Reagan administration's economic policies. Bell himself admitted, "If I lose, I think a lot of obituaries are going to be written for Reaganomics." Bell's campaign may have been undercut when President Reagan blamed the federal budget deficit for high inflation, thereby endorsing Fenwick's economic platform, though not the candidate herself.
Both Bell and Fenwick supported a freeze on nuclear weapons contingent on the United States surpassing the Soviet Union's arsenal, while Morris opposed a de jure freeze, arguing that a de facto freeze already existed. Morris also supported a sharp increase in military spending to deter Soviet expansion into the Middle East and Western Hemisphere and proposed American intervention in the Falklands War to force both Argentina and the United Kingdom to withdraw, citing the Monroe Doctrine. He also challenged New York City mayor Ed Koch, then running for Governor, to swim from Manhattan to the Jersey Shore to bring attention to pollution.
After the first debate, Morris withdrew from the race, saying that he had made his point and did not have the funding to continue. Though he chose to remain neutral, his withdrawal was seen to benefit Bell, a fellow conservative. Bell admitted he had asked Morris to withdraw, though he did not know how much effect this had.
Near the end of the primary, Bell unsuccessfully sought the endorsement of Governor Tom Kean.
Polling Late in the campaign, Fenwick's aides cited her polling lead at 15 percentage points.
Results Fenwick defeated by Bell with 54% of the vote. Bell called Fenwick at 11 P.M. on election night to concede. He maintained his interpretation that his defeat was a referendum on Reaganomics and that Fenwick's victory was a sign that voters rejected Reagan's policies.
Democratic primary Candidates Angelo Bianchi, former State Banking Commissioner Frank Forst, former Jamesburg mayor Frank Lautenberg, financial executive Joseph A. LeFante, former U.S. representative from Bayonne Andrew Maguire, former U.S. representative from Ridgewood Richard D. McAleer, car leasing agent Howard Rosen, attorney Barbara Boggs Sigmund, Mercer County freeholder Cyril Yannarelli, Passaic County freeholder
Withdrew Donald Cresitello, former Morristown mayor (withdrew May 27 and endorsed LeFante)
The first candidate to enter the race was Howard Rosen, a lawyer from Millburn. Representatives Andrew Maguire and Joseph LeFante both had large bases in their home counties, Bergen and Hudson respectively. Frank Lautenberg, the CEO of ADP, had no natural political base and had never run for office, but had a well-financed media campaign and courted key endorsements.
The last major candidate to join the race was Barbara Boggs Sigmund, a Mercer County Freeholder from Princeton and the daughter of late House Majority Leader Hale Boggs and Congresswoman Lindy Boggs. Sigmund campaigned for the newly drawn 7th congressional district for much of the spring, but joined the Senate race after being recruited by Democratic Congressmen Robert A. Roe, James J. Howard, and William J. Hughes. She announced her campaign just one hour before the filing deadline, on the anniversary of her father's birthday.
Donald Cresitello, a former mayor of Morristown, and Richard McAleer, a car-leasing manager, were also late entries.
Campaign The Democratic primary was previewed in The New York Times as a "free-for-all," with ten candidates entering before the April 30 filing deadline and no clear favorite.
Lautenberg's campaign was largely self-funded, giving him an advantage in a year when Democratic fundraising was hard to come by following Williams's scandal and James Florio's narrow, expensive loss in the 1981 election for governor. His campaign spending was criticized by LeFante.
Sigmund had support from liberals and some labor elements. She ran a spirited, if brief and underfunded campaign, emphasizing her gender and women's issues, arguing a woman was best suited to take on Fenwick in the fall campaign. At her campaign announcement, Sigmund said that a race between herself and Fenwick "would be the most exciting campaign in the country." She also cited women's perceived compassion and mediating skills as beneficial in politics. One Sigmund supporter referred to the primary race as "Snow White and the Nine Dwarfs."
Sigmund's campaign likely cost Andrew Maguire the endorsement of Mercer County Democrats and women's groups, two groups that had favored him before her entry. Sigmund may also have cut into Maguire's support with labor and Black voters. Sigmund also drew funding and organizational help from Washington.
LeFante's campaign had the key support of the Hudson County Democratic machine, which was expected to deliver him 50,000 votes, about half of what was expected to be necessary to win. Sigmund herself called him the front-runner.
Rosen, who spent $1,000,000 and campaigned vigorously, was forced to cease campaigning late in the race due to a kidney ailment.
In the final weeks, Maguire focused his campaign on North and Central Jersey, making 32 stops at train stations, shopping malls, and factories. Lautenberg and LeFante both campaigned in North Jersey, while Sigmund campaigned with Anne Clark Martindell and Claude Pepper in Trenton.
On election night, the results swung back and forth, with Lautenberg, Maguire, and LeFante each holding the lead several times. Lautenberg claimed victory at 11:40 P.M. and Maguire conceded shortly after. LeFante declined to concede immediately, saying he would wait until Wednesday to re-examine the votes.
Results Lautenberg won a narrow victory with 26% of the vote to 23% for Maguire and 20% for LeFante. Sigmund ran fourth with 11%. Lautenberg had no strong regional base, but stayed close enough to Maguire in Bergen and LeFante in Hudson to carry the state on the back of narrow victories throughout the rest of the state.
Some Maguire supporters suggested that he would have won had Sigmund not joined the race; the Maguire campaign itself denied this, arguing that Sigmund pulled from all candidates.
Impact of ballot positioning Estimates at the time suggested 5 to 10 percent of ballots were cast for the first name on the ballot regardless of candidate. The only county Maguire won outside his native Bergen was also the only county where he had the first position, Hunterdon. Likewise, LeFante only won his native Hudson and two counties where he had top position (Cape May and Gloucester). Richard McAleer, who spent no money on his campaign, won more than half his votes in Mercer, Union, and Warren, where he led the ballot. In Union, he finished ahead of higher profile candidates like Sigmund and LeFante.
General election Candidates Robert T. Bastien (Grassroots) Millicent Fenwick, U.S. representative from Bernardsville (Republican) Henry Koch (Libertarian) Frank Lautenberg, financial executive (Democratic) Julius Levin (Socialist Labor) Claire Moriarty (Socialist Workers) Rose Zeidwerg Monyek, perennial candidate (Repeal TF 807) Martin E. Wendelken, perennial candidate (Independent)
Campaign After the primary, Lautenberg's campaign got off to a rocky start, as polls put Fenwick ahead by as much as 18 points and most figured that she was assured victory in November. Even many Democrats assumed their goal was to keep her margin low enough to preserve Democratic chances for local offices. Lautenberg quipped that his opponent was "the most popular candidate in the country." But Lautenberg waged an aggressive, self-funded campaign against Fenwick, outspending her two-to-one. He emphasized partisan differences by tying Fenwick to President Ronald Reagan and Senator Strom Thurmond and attacking her personally, calling her "erratic" and "eccentric."
Lautenberg faced an early problem when he claimed that Hudson County Democratic leaders asked him to pay off Joseph A. LeFante's primary campaign debts and barred his staff from U.S. representative Frank J. Guarini's district campaign offices until he paid. Jersey City mayor Gerald McCann denied that he had requested any payment and accused Lautenberg of threatening Hudson County officials by supporting primary challengers in local elections if they withheld their support.
In October, the campaign intensified after Lautenberg attacked Fenwick as "a little eccentric," quoting former President Gerald Ford. Lautenberg also said she was "erratic in terms of proposals, work and programs." He denied this was an attack on her age and said he was not challenging her "fitness to serve" but her "ability to do the job." By the month's end, both candidates acknowledged the race had drawn much closer. Lautenberg compared his campaign to Mario Cuomo's in the summer New York Democratic primary, in which he trailed Ed Koch by a wide margin in all polls but won a major upset.
Fenwick continued to hammer her independence and criticized Lautenberg for distorting her record. Her campaign was particularly hurt by the Lautenberg campaign's claim that, "If Fenwick goes to the Senate, she'll support voting-rights opponent Strom Thurmond." Fenwick had been a long-time member of the NAACP since before she entered politics and objected strongly to the accusation. Lautenberg responded, "Mrs. Fenwick's anger has apparently overtaken her... I think that when she comes up with that kind of a campaign after complimenting me a couple of weeks ago for my gentlemanly way of campaigning and turns now, instead of defending her record, to talk about mud slinging, shows how desperate she is." He did not withdraw the charges, but instead returned Fenwick's charge of mudslinging: "Mrs. Fenwick's campaign has taken a radical turn, changing from one where she presented herself as a public servant to one where personality became an issue."