For Democrats, 1973 was the best year ever

For New Jersey Democrats, there was never a better year than 1973.  Republicans ousted their incumbent Governor, moderate William Cahill, in the primary and replaced him with Charles Sandman, a conservative Congressman.  Democrats, helped by the Watergate scandal in Washington (two weeks before the general election, Richard Nixon fired the Watergate special prosecutor in what was called "The Saturday Night Massacre") and the criminal conviction of top GOP officeholders in New Jersey, won the governorship by 721,378 votes (68%-32%).  Brendan Byrne won every county but Cape May - Sandman's home county.  Sandman's defeat was the worst for a Republican in New Jersey history.

Democrats picked up thirteen State Senate seats and 26 Assembly seats, leaving the Legislature with ten Republicans in the Senate and fourteen in the Assembly.  Only four legislative districts out of forty elected Republicans to the Senate and both Assembly seats; 36 districts sent at least one Democrat to the Legislature, including Hunterdon, Ocean, Morris, Sussex and Warren counties.

One year earlier, Richard Nixon carried New Jersey by a similar margin, beating George McGovern by 743,291 votes.  And Clifford Case won his second term in the U.S. Senate by 780,281 votes over Paul Krebs.

As an illustration of how bad things were for Republicans, Byrne won 65% of the vote in Morris County, carrying 38 of 39 municipalities.  Sandman carried only Harding Township, by a margin of 32 votes.  Byrne won 66% in Somerset County, winning every town but Far Hills, and he won 63% in Sussex County, losing only Lafayette.  Byrne won 60% in Ocean County; Sandman won in Eagleswood, Mantoloking, Ocean Gate and Tuckerton.

Republicans did have one shining star on Election Day 1973: in the Paterson-based 35th district, Democratic State Sen. Joseph Lazzara was unseated by Frank Davenport, the five-term Republican Passaic County Sheriff.  Davenport won by 93 votes in a district Byrne won by 9,627.