1877 New Jersey Senate election

1877 New Jersey Senate election

November 6, 1877
7 of the 21 seats in the New Jersey State Senate 11 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Leon Abbett (retired) William J. Sewell Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat Hudson County Camden County Seats before 11 10 Seats after 12 9 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 33,633 27,238 Percentage 53.53% 43.35% Seats up 4 3 Races won 5 2
Results by district      Democratic hold      Democratic gain      Republican hold      Republican gain      No election
Senate President before election Leon Abbett Democratic Elected Senate President George C. Ludlow Democratic

The 1877 New Jersey Senate election was held on November 6, 1877, to elect seven of the 21 members of the New Jersey Senate that were up for election. Under the 1844 New Jersey Constitution, each county was apportioned one Senate seat.

Democrats picked up the Morris and Ocean county seats, while Republican John J. Gardner picked up the Atlantic County seat.

Summary of results by county

County	Incumbent	Party		Elected Senator	Party
Atlantic	Hosea F. Madden		Dem	John J. Gardner		Rep
Bergen	George Dayton		Dem	Cornelius S. Cooper		Dem
Burlington	Caleb G. Ridgway		Dem	No election
Camden	W. J. Sewell		Rep	No election
Cape May	Jonathan F. Leaming		Rep	No election
Cumberland	J. Howard Willets		Rep	George S. Whitcar		Rep
Essex	William H. Kirk		Rep	No election
Gloucester	Thomas B. Mathers		Rep	No election
Hudson	Leon Abbett		Dem	Rudolph F. Rabe		Dem
Hunterdon	James N. Pidcock		Dem	No election
Mercer	Jonathan H. Blackwell		Dem	Cromwell Marsh		Dem
Middlesex	George C. Ludlow		Dem	No election
Monmouth	William Hendrickson		Dem	No election
Morris	John Hill		Rep	Augustus C. Canfield		Dem
Ocean	John S. Schultze		Rep	Ephraim P. Emson		Dem
Passaic	Garret Hobart		Rep	No election
Salem	Chas. S. Plummer		Rep	No election
Somerset	Charles B. Moore		Dem	No election
Sussex	Frank M. Ward		Dem	No election
Union	William J. Magie		Rep	No election
Warren	William Silverthorn		Dem	No election

Closest races

Seats where the margin of victory was under 10%:

1. Mercer County, 1.04%
2. Bergen County, 3.16%
3. Cumberland County, 4.21%
4. Atlantic County, 4.68% (gain)
5. Morris County, 4.88% (gain)

Other gains

Seats that flipped party control where the margin of victory was over 10%:

1. Ocean County, 16.52% (gain)

Detailed results

Atlantic

1877 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John J. Gardner	1,599	52.34%
	Democratic	A. Doughty	1,456	47.66%
Total votes			3,055	100.00%
	Republican gain from Democratic

Bergen

1877 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Cornelius S. Cooper	3,030	51.58%
	Republican	Fr. Howland	2,844	48.42%
Total votes			5,874	100.00%
	Democratic hold

Cumberland

1877 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	George S. Whitcar	2,667	38.83%
	Democratic	Nat'l Stratton	2,378	34.62%
	Greenback	Charles C. Grosscup	1,824	26.55%
Total votes			6,869	100.00%
	Republican hold

Hudson

1877 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rudolph F. Rabe	14,563	61.82%
	Republican	Jacob Weart	8,995	38.18%
Total votes			23,558	100.00%
	Democratic hold

Mercer

1877 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Cromwell Marsh	5,878	49.94%
	Republican	J. H. Brueret	5,756	48.90%
	Prohibition	H. B. Howell	137	1.16%
Total votes			11,771	100.00%
	Democratic hold

Morris

1877 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Augustus C. Canfield	4,428	52.44%
	Republican	William Hillard	4,016	47.56%
Total votes			8,444	100.00%
	Democratic gain from Republican

Ocean

1877 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ephraim P. Emson	1,900	58.26%
	Republican	H. G. Gullick	1,361	41.74%
Total votes			3,261	100.00%
	Democratic gain from Republican