1971Final resultsSpecial election
1971 special election for New Jersey Legislative District 9
New Jersey State Senate · New Jersey
Jerry F. English (D) won with 50.8% of the vote, defeating Van Dyke J. Pollitt (R) by 5.9 points.
Jerry F. EnglishDemocrat · winner
50.8%73,314
Van Dyke J. PollittRepublican
44.9%64,798
Elmer L. SullivanIndependent
4.4%6,305
144,417 votes
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET
The seat over time
D − R margin in this seat's races around 1971
Races before and after
Source: Past results: 99chambers results archive (MEDSL, Klarner, state election offices)
The candidates
Jerry F. English (D)Van Dyke J. Pollitt (R)
Also on the ballot: Elmer L. Sullivan (Independent), 4.4%