1981Flipped from DemocraticFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
1981 election for New Jersey Legislative District 38
New Jersey State Senate · New Jersey
John B. Paolella (R) won with 51.0% of the vote, defeating John M. Skevin (D) by 4.5 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
John B. PaolellaRepublican · winner
51.0%30,670
John M. SkevinDemocrat · incumbent
46.5%27,968
Bernard J. FocarinoOther party
2.5%1,473
60,111 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 1981
Races before and after
Source: Harvard Dataverse / Carl KlarnerUpdated Sep 30, 2026, 7:29 AM ET