1985 New Jersey General Assembly election

November 5, 1985

All 80 seats in the New Jersey General Assembly
41 seats needed for a majority

	Majority party	Minority party

Leader	Chuck Hardwick	Alan Karcher (stepped down)
Party	Republican	Democratic
Leader's seat	21st	19th
Seats before	36	44
Seats won	50	30
Seat change	14	14

Results:
Republican gain Democratic gain
Republican hold Democratic hold

Speaker before election

Alan Karcher
Democratic

Elected Speaker

Chuck Hardwick
Republican

Federal government

U.S. President
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U.S. Senate
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U.S. House of Representatives
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State government

General elections
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Gubernatorial elections
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Senate elections
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General Assembly elections
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The 1985 New Jersey General Assembly election was held on November 5, 1985.

The elections coincided with Governor Tom Kean's landslide re-election. The result was a historic victory for Kean's Republican Party, which gained 14 seats to retake the majority in the Assembly. As of 2025, this remains the only election since 1973 in which Republicans won any seats in the Senate or Assembly from Hudson County, where they carried four of six seats.

Republicans flipped one seat in districts 9, 10, and 14, as well as both seats in districts 3, 13, 30, 32, 33, and 36. Democrats flipped one seat in District 17.