21st Legislative District (New Jersey)


New Jersey's 21st Legislative District is one of 40 in the New Jersey Legislature. As of the 2011 apportionment, the district includes the Morris County communities of Chatham Borough and
Long Hill Township; the Somerset County municipalities of Bernards Township, Far Hills Borough, Warren Township and Watchung Borough; the Union County municipalities of Berkeley Heights Township, Cranford Township, Garwood Borough, Kenilworth Borough, Mountainside Borough, New Providence Borough, Roselle Park Borough, Springfield Township, Summit City and Westfield Town.

Demographic characteristics

As of the 2010 United States Census, the district had a population of 219,875, of whom 161,480 were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 188,028 White, 6,256 African American, 190 Native American, 17,640 Asian, 50 Pacific Islander, 3,477 from some other race, and 4,234 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17,698 of the population. The 21st District had 168,498 registered voters as of February 1, 2020, of whom 67,431 were registered as unaffiliated, 52,777 were registered as Democrats, 47,117 were registered as Republicans, and 1,173 were registered to other parties.
The densely populated district is one of the wealthiest in the state, with the highest equalized property value and income on a per capita basis. Standardized test schools in the district's public schools were the highest of all districts statewide, and the district placed third in the percentage of 9th graders graduating from high school. Voter registration and turnout is among the highest in the state, with registered Republicans outnumbering Democrats by a more than 3-2 margin.

Political representation

The district is represented for the 2020–2021 Legislative Session in the State Senate by Thomas Kean Jr. and in the General Assembly by Jon Bramnick and Nancy Munoz.
At the federal level, it is almost entirely located within the 7th congressional district, with the exceptions of Chatham, which is in the 11th congressional district, and Roselle Park, which is in the 10th congressional district.

Apportionment history

When the 40-district legislative map was created in 1973, the 21st District was originally in eastern Union County consisting of Elizabeth, Linden, and Winfield Township plus Carteret in Middlesex County. In the 1981 redistricting, the 21st district became based out of central Union County, centered about Kenilworth and inclusive of the municipalities that border Kenilworth plus Westfield, Garwood, Roselle, and Hillside. In the next redistricting in 1991, a major change occurred to the district's boundaries: It now consisted of northern Union County from Roselle Park and Union Township, then north into the west side of Essex County from Millburn to North Caldwell and Cedar Grove.
Changes to the district made as part of the legislative redistricting in 2001, based on the results of the 2000 United States Census removed Kenilworth Borough and Union Township Caldwell Township, Essex Fells Township, Livingston Township, North Caldwell Township and Roseland Borough, Cedar Grove and Verona and added Berkeley Heights Township, Chatham Township, Cranford Township, Garwood Borough, Long Hill Township, Mountainside Borough, New Providence Borough, Warren Township, Watchung Borough and Westfield Town, Harding Township and Madison Borough. The 2011 apportionment added Chatham Borough, Bernards Township, Far Hills Borough and Kenilworth Borough. Removed were Chatham Township, Harding Township, Madison, and Millburn, all of which were shifted into the 27th Legislative District.

Election history

After a single term in the Senate, Thomas G. Dunn was dropped by the Union County Democrats in 1977 and was replaced on the party line by Linden Mayor John T. Gregorio. Dunn ran as an independent and lost to Gregorio in the general election.
Edward K. Gill, elected to the Assembly in 1981 after C. Louis Bassano ran for the Senate, had announced that he would not run for a third term in the Assembly shortly before his death in February 1985. Peter J. Genova was elected in a special election to fill Gill's vacant seat.
Joel Weingarten was elected to the Assembly in a November 1996 special election in which he defeated Democratic candidate Robert R. Peacock to fill the one year remaining on the vacant seat of Monroe Jay Lustbader, who had died in office in March 1996.
A special convention of Republican Party delegates chose Nancy Munoz in May 2009 to succeed her husband, Eric Munoz, following his death in March of that year.

Election results

Senate

Assembly