Hamilton Kean

Not to be overlooked: 84-year-old Frank Lautenberg may be the oldest man to ever represent New Jersey in the United States Senate, but 64-year-old Dick Zimmer -- if he wins in November -- would become one of the oldest freshman Senators in state history.  Hamilton Kean was the oldest freshman Senator -- he was 66 when he ousted incumbent Edward Edwards in 1928.  Alexander Smith was 64 when he won in 1944, and Albert Hawkes was 64 when he won in 1942. 

In New Jersey, incumbent United States Senators have rarely faced competitive primary challenges, and the only incumbent Senator to lose a primary was Clifford Case, a four-term Republican who lost 50.7%-49.3% to conservative Jeffrey Bell, a former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan’s 1976 presidential campaign.  Case had faced primary challenges from the right before: Robert Morris, who had been Chief Counsel for Senate Internal Security Subcommittee headed by Joseph McCarthy, won 33% in 1960; and James Walter Ralph, a Bergen County physician, received 30% in 1972.