1994 NJ Senatorial Election

Winning against the tide of the 1994 Republican revolution, in a negative campaign where for most of the summer he delegated campaign duties to his campaign director David Eichenbaum, Incumbent Frank Lautenberg best incumbent Assembly Speaker Chuck Haytaian by 3.3%

Presumed the Loser on election night due to the aforementioned Republican wave, the campaign had gone well for Senator Lautenberg. His top threats, Frm Gov Tom Kean and Rep Dick Zimmer declined to run, and he had a massive fundraising advantage over Speaker Haytaian.

Further, in observing NJ Democrats struggle since 1990 because of the Florio Taxes, Lautenberg Triangulated, moderating on the issue and repeatedly bucking the Democrats on the issue - opposing Clinton's taxes.

Despite Haytaian's best efforts, this shifted the voter's focus in this campaign towards social issues, which were to Haytaian's disadvantage as he was on the conservative side of said issues.

For Example, the Speaker had opposed the Florio Gun controll bill where Lautenberg had supported the Brady Bill.

Further, Haytian was on the defensive on the issue of abortion, where he shifted to mandatory wait times, parental notification for minors, and a federal ban on abortion funding where Lautenberg had been steadfastly pro-choice throughout his career in the senate.

In addition, near the end of the campaign Haytaian was caught in a controversy with regards to conservative radio talk show host Bob Grant, where after appearing on his show and calling him a friend he refused to condemn Grant.

All the while Governor Whitman, who did the same thing, vociferously condemned him.

After the loss, Governor Whitman would say that Haytaian was a victim of GOP successes in NJ, as in addition to Lautenberg's moderation on the issue, the large GOP wins and resulting Tax cuts (Some sheperded by Haytaian) had taken wind out of the sail of this Key GOP Attack.

In terms of Congressional Districrs, Lautenberg won 7/13 while Haytaian won 6/13, in terms of Legislative districts Lautenberg won 22/40 while Haytaian won 18/40, and in terms of Counties Lautenberg won 12/21 to Haytaian's 9/21.

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