New Jersey's 19th legislative district
[2][12] In the 1977 Democratic primaries, Laurence S. Weiss defeated incumbent senator John J. Fay Jr., and went on to win election.[15] In the statewide Republican landslide in the 1991 general election, Weiss lost his Senate seat to Randy Corman, while in the Assembly Stephen A. Mikulak and Ernest L. Oros defeated Democratic candidates Thomas J. Deverin and Jay Ziznewski, putting Republicans in all three legislative seats in what had been described by The New York Times as a "blue-collar and traditionally rock-solid Democratic district".[17][18] Democrats statewide saw a net gain of three seats in the Assembly in the 1995 elections, with two of the pickups coming in the 19th district where Arline Friscia and John Wisniewski knocked off the Republican incumbents Mikulak and Oros.[19] McGreevey stepped down from his Senate seat in 1997 to run for Governor of New Jersey and was replaced by Joe Vitale.[21] In a similar situation to what happened with 17th district Assemblywoman Angela L. Perun in 1985, Republicans Frisca and running mate Jeffrey Pino were defeated by Vas and Wisniewski in the 2003 general election.