Hudson has had nine Assembly Speakers since its last Senate President

Hudson County has produced nine Assembly Speakers over the last 113 years — or ten, depending on whether Maurice Brady (D-Bayonne), who held the post twice, gets counted twice — but just one Senate President in the history of the New Jersey Legislature.

That Senate President was James Fielder (D-Jersey City), who was in precisely the right place at precisely the right time.

Fielder became Senate President in January 1913, less than two months before Gov. Woodrow Wilson resigned to become President of the United States.  Under the state constitution, Fielder assumed the powers of governor and served as acting governor for nearly eight months.

He resigned as Senate President and acting governor on October 28, 1913, a maneuver that allowed him to sidestep a constitutional prohibition against succeeding himself.  One week later, voters elected him to a three-year term as governor.  (His resignation was a result of a quirk in the State Constitution at the time that barred sitting governors from seeking re-election.)

No Hudson County senator has served a substantive term as Senate President since.

Hudson’s drought stands in sharp contrast to its extraordinary success in capturing the Assembly’s top post.  Since Fielder’s elevation, Hudson has supplied Speakers Joseph Greenberg (D-Hoboken) in 1932; Thomas Walker (D-Jersey City) in 1936; Brady in 1960 and again in 1966; Frederick Hauser (D-Hoboken) later in 1966; Joseph LeFante (D-Bayonne) in 1977; Christopher Jackman (D-West New York) from 1978 to 1982; Joseph Doria (D-Bayonne) from 1990 to 1992; Albio Sires (D-West New York) from 2002 to 2006; and Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus) from 2014 to 2018.

Bernard Kenny (D-Hoboken) became Senate President for one day in January 2008, when Richard Codey (D-Roseland) temporarily relinquished the post as an honorary gesture to the retiring Hudson County Democrat. Excluding Kenny’s ceremonial tenure, Fielder remains Hudson County’s last genuine Senate President.

Every one of New Jersey’s 21 counties has produced at least one Senate President since the current upper chamber was established under the 1844 State Constitution, although some have waited generations for another one.

After Hudson, Cumberland County has the longest drought.  George Stanger (R-Vineland) became Senate President in 1943 and returned briefly in 1944 after Howard Eastwood (R-Burlington) resigned.

Passaic County has gone without a Senate President since Charles Barton (R-Paterson) held the post in 1947.  Salem County’s last was John Summerill (R-Penns Grove) in 1948.

Camden County has waited since 1955, when Bruce Wallace (R-Cherry Hill) became Senate President.  Warren County’s only Senate President was Wayne Dumont (R-Phillipsburg) in 1956.

Hunterdon County’s last was Wesley Lance (R-Glen Gardner) in 1959.  Sussex County followed with George Harper (R-Layton) in 1960, and Morris County’s Thomas Hillery (R-Boonton) held the presidency in 1961.

Frank “Hap” Farley (R-Ventnor), the legendary Atlantic County Republican leader, served as Senate President twice: first in 1945 and again in 1962.  His second turn makes him Atlantic County’s most recent occupant of the post.

Charles Sandman (R-Erma) was Senate President in 1964 and 1965, while Burlington County’s Edwin Forsythe (R-Moorestown) held the job in 1968.

Somerset County’s last Senate President was Raymond Bateman (R-Branchburg), who served from 1970 to 1972.  Bergen County has not held the post since Matthew Feldman (D-Teaneck) finished his two-year tenure in 1977.

Joseph Merlino (D-Trenton) was Mercer County’s last Senate President, serving from 1978 through 1981.

Ocean County’s John Russo (D-Toms River) held the presidency from 1986 to 1990.  Middlesex County’s John Lynch (D-New Brunswick) succeeded him and served until 1991.

John Bennett (R-Little Silver) shared the presidency with Codey during the evenly divided Senate of 2002–2004.  Bennett remains Monmouth County’s most recent Senate President.

Codey later held the post on his own, except for the one-day Kenny interlude, and remained Senate President through January 2010.  He is Essex County’s most recent leader of the upper chamber.

Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford) became Senate President in 2010 by ousting Codey, and held the position for twelve years, the longest tenure in state history.  His reign ended after his stunning 2021 re-election loss, making him Gloucester County’s most recent Senate President.

Union County now controls the presidency through Nicholas Scutari (D-Linden), who succeeded Sweeney in January 2022.

Warren was the last of the state’s 21 counties to produce a Senate President when Dumont took the gavel in 1956.  But no county has waited as long for a second turn as Hudson — the county that has repeatedly dominated the Assembly but has not controlled the Senate since Wilson departed for Washington.

Fielder won the Democratic primary in 1913 with 70% of the vote against Trenton Mayor Frank Katzenbach; Wilson endorsed Fielder and helped convince Jersey City Mayor Otto Wittpenn to drop out of the race.

Progressive Bull Moose Assembly candidates affiliated with Theodore Roosevelt’s independent presidential candidacy in 1913 gathered enough votes to create a legitimate third party in New Jersey, with its own primary; former State Sen. Everett Colby, a former Republican from West Orange, won the Progressive primary; former Gov. Edward Stokes won the GOP nomination.

Fielder won the general election by almost nine percentage points over Stokes, 46%-37%, with Colby receiving 11%.

Because Colby’s Assembly running mates statewide failed to hit the 10% mark, New Jersey returned to a two-party state in 1914.