9th Legislative District (New Jersey)


New Jersey's 9th Legislative District is one of 40 in the New Jersey Legislature, covering the Atlantic County municipalities of Galloway Township and Port Republic City; the Burlington County municipalities of Bass River Township, Tabernacle Township and Washington Township; and the Ocean County municipalities of Barnegat Township, Barnegat Light Borough, Beach Haven Borough, Beachwood Borough, Berkeley Township, Eagleswood Township, Harvey Cedars Borough, Lacey Township, Little Egg Harbor Township, Long Beach Township, Ocean Township, Ocean Gate Borough, Pine Beach Borough, Seaside Park Borough, Ship Bottom Borough, South Toms River Borough, Stafford Township, Surf City Borough and Tuckerton Borough as of the 2011 apportionment.

Demographic characteristics

As of the 2010 United States Census, the district had a population of 236,923, of whom 194,710 were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 220,543 White, 4,973 African American, 321 Native American, 3,121 Asian, 49 Pacific Islander, 3,121 from some other race, and 3,247 from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14,969 of the population. The district had 175,911 registered voters as of February 1, 2020, of whom 73,712 were registered as unaffiliated, 59,385 were registered as Republicans, 40,522 were registered as Democrats, and 2,292 were registered to other parties.

Political representation

The district is represented for the 2020–2021 Legislative Session in the State Senate by Christopher J. Connors and in the General Assembly by Brian E. Rumpf and DiAnne Gove.

1965–1973

During the period of time after the 1964 Supreme Court decision in Reynolds v. Sims and before the establishment of a 40-district legislature in 1973, the 9th District encompassed the entirety of Union County. Two Senators were elected in the 1965 election while three were elected in the 1967 and 1971 elections. Republicans Nicholas S. LaCorte, Frank X. McDermott, and Matthew John Rinaldo won the 1967 election though LaCorte would resign on December 7, 1970 to become a tax appeals judge. Democrat Jerry Fitzgerald English would win a 1971 special election to complete LaCorte's term. Republicans would win the three seats in the regular 1971 election with Rinaldo, McDermott, and Jerome Epstein receiving the most votes in that election. Following Rinaldo's election to Congress in 1972 elections, Democrat William J. McCloud would be elected to complete Rinaldo's term in the Senate.
In the Assembly, for the 1967, 1969, and 1971 elections, Union County was divided into three districts that each elected two members of the Assembly. In addition, in the 1967 and 1969 elections, one additional member of the Assembly was elected county-wide.
The members elected to the Assembly from each district are as follows:
SessionDistrict 9ADistrict 9BDistrict 9CDistrict 9 At-large
1968–1969Joseph J. Higgins Herbert J. Heilmann Peter McDonough Charles J. Irwin
1968–1969Henry F. Gavan Herbert H. Kiehn Hugo Pfaltz Charles J. Irwin
1970–1971Joseph J. Higgins Herbert J. Heilmann Peter McDonough Charles J. Irwin
1970–1971Joseph J. Higgins Elizabeth Cox Peter McDonough Charles J. Irwin
1970–1971Henry F. Gavan Hugo Pfaltz Herbert H. Kiehn Charles J. Irwin
1972–1973Joseph J. Higgins C. Louis Bassano Peter McDonough Seat eliminated
1972–1973Alexander J. Menza Herbert H. Kiehn Arthur Manner Seat eliminated

District composition since 1973

Since the creation of 40 equal-population districts statewide in 1973, the 9th District has been based in and around Ocean County. For the 1973 district, the 9th consisted of most of Ocean County, Woodland Township in Burlington County, and Millstone Township in Monmouth County. In the 1981 redistricting, the large townships of Lakewood, Brick, and Dover and other nearby small boroughs were removed but the remainder of Ocean County municipalities were added as well as Bass River Township and Burlington County's New Hanover Township, Wrightstown, and North Hanover. Jackson Township and Plumsted Township and the northern Burlington municipalities were shifted out of the 9th in the 1991 redistricting; more of southern Burlington was added including Tabernacle, Woodland, Washington, and Bass River townships and Egg Harbor City in Atlantic County were also added to the district for this decade. In the 2001 redistricting, the Ocean County portion of the district barely changed but only Washington and Bass River townships remained in Burlington County and the municipalities that made up the Atlantic County portion of the district were Hammonton and Folsom.

Election history

Election results, 1973–present

Senate

Assembly

Election results, 1965–1973

Senate

Assembly

District 9A

District 9B

District 9C

District 9 At-large