1981Flipped from DemocraticFinal resultsIncumbent defeated
1981 election for New Jersey Legislative District 39
New Jersey State Senate · New Jersey
Gerald Cardinale (R) won with 58.2% of the vote, defeating Francis X. Herbert (D) by 16.4 points, a seat Democrats won last time.
Gerald CardinaleRepublican · winner
58.2%38,929
Francis X. HerbertDemocrat · incumbent
41.8%27,948
66,877 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