 In his bid for re-election to a fifth term in office, Laskin lost to Democrat John Adler in the 1991 general election.Camden County Democratic Party boss George Norcross decided to target Laskin's seat, after the Senator refused to appoint Norcorss's father to a seat on the New Jersey Racing Commission; in addition to an effort to elect Democrats at the county level, Norcross recruited Adler to run against Laskin.In a particularly bitter race, Adler criticized what he called Laskin's "sweetheart patronage contracts" as attorney for several area municipalities, calling Laskin "parasitic and self-serving, the ultimate political hack", while Lakskin described Adler as "an absolute lunatic".