New Jersey's 33rd Legislative District is one of 40 in the state, covering the

Hudson County Hudson County is the most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in ...

municipalities of

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,69 ...

, Union City,

Weehawken Weehawken is a township in the northern part of Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the Hudson River. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 17,197.

, as well as portions of Jersey City as of the 2011 apportionment.Districts by Number
New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 22, 2012. As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, the district had a population of 249,706. At , the district has the smallest land area for a Legislative District.

Demographic characteristics

As of the

, the district had a population of 249,706, of whom 203,973 (81.7%) were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 100,428 (40.2%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 13,401 (5.4%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 2,617 (1.0%) Native American, 44,188 (17.7%)

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 148 (0.1%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 53,709 (21.5%) from some other race, and 35,215 (14.1%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 99,722 (39.9%) of the population. The district had 148,524 registered voters as of December 1, 2021, of whom 48,077 (32.4%) were registered as unaffiliated, 82,315 (55.4%) were registered as Democrats, 16,326 (11.0%) were registered as Republicans, and 1,806 (1.2%) were registered to other parties. The district is the smallest and most densely populated district in the state. The district has a majority Hispanic population, with 46% of the population being foreign born, the largest of any district. It has a relative paucity of African Americans and senior citizens.

Political representation

For the 2022–2023 session, the district is represented in the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

Brian P. Stack Brian P. Stack (born May 16, 1966) is an American Democratic Party politician who serves in the New Jersey Senate, where he represents the 33rd Legislative District and serves Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He has also served as ...

( D, Union City) and in the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

by Annette Chaparro (D,

) and Raj Mukherji (D, Jersey City). The legislative district is entirely located within

New Jersey's 8th congressional district New Jersey's 8th congressional district is currently represented by Democrat Rob Menendez, who has served in Congress since January 2023. The district is majority Hispanic and includes some of the most urban areas of New Jersey, including par ...

District composition since 1973

The 33rd District, since its creation in 1973 along with the 40-district legislative map in the state, has always consisted of most of the municipalities in North Hudson along the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

. From 1973 until 2011, it consisted of all of Hoboken, Union City, Weehawken, West New York, and Guttenberg, and a portion of Jersey City. In order to maintain a population close to one-fortieth of the state's population, wards from Jersey City were added and removed as necessary to obtain this population count. Guttenberg and

West New York West New York is a town in the northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, situated upon the New Jersey Palisades. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 52,912. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates ...

, which had been in the district since 1973, were shifted to the 32nd District in 2011. The 33rd District has been reliably Democratic for decades, with Republicans making brief inroads in the 1985 elections. Riding

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official r ...

Thomas Kean Thomas Howard Kean ( ; born April 21, 1935) is an American businessman, academic administrator and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Kean served as the 48th governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Following his tenure as governor, ...

's wave of success in the 1985 elections, two Republicans won election,

Jose Arango Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

of West New York and

Ronald Dario Ronald A. Dario (1937 – June 30, 2004) was a Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician who represented the New Jersey's 33rd legislative district, 33rd Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1984 to 198 ...

of Union City. The two defeated Democratic incumbents

Robert Ranieri Robert A. Ranieri (born February 25, 1929) was an American Democratic Party politician who represented the 33rd legislative district in the New Jersey General Assembly. Early life Ranieri was born in 1929 in Hoboken, New Jersey, and attended ...

and newcomer Mario R. Hernandez Bob Menendez was elevated to fill the Senate vacancy following the death of

Christopher Jackman Christopher J. Jackman (July 12, 1916 – January 28, 1991) was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey, who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature. He was Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1978 until 1 ...

in January 1991.

Louis Romano Louis A. Romano (born August 20, 1930) is an American Democratic Party politician who served four terms in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1992 to 2000, where he represented the 33rd Legislative District. Early life Romano earned his unde ...

was then chosen to fill the vacancy in the Assembly. After

Robert Menendez Robert Menendez (; born January 1, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from New Jersey, a seat he has held since 2006. Gale Biography In Context. A member of the Democratic Party, he was firs ...

was elected as

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

in November 1992, Assemblymember

Bernard Kenny Bernard F. Kenny Jr. (born November 17, 1946, in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an American Democratic Party politician, who represented the 33rd Legislative District in the New Jersey State Senate from 1993 to 2008, after serving in the New Jers ...

was chosen to fill Menendez's vacancy in the New Jersey Senate. In turn, Hudson County, New Jersey Democratic Party boss

Bruce Walter The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has be ...

picked Rudy Garcia in January 1993 to fill Kenny's now-vacant spot in the Assembly. In the June 1999 primaries, the

Democratic Party organization was looking for "new blood" and chose to give its official support to

mayor

Albio Sires Albio B. Sires (; born January 26, 1951) is a Cuban-born American businessman and politician who has served as the U.S. representative for since 2006. The district, numbered as the from 2006 to 2013, includes most of northern and eastern Jers ...

. Four-term incumbent

ran in the Democratic primary and lost, making him the only one of the 80 incumbents in the Assembly to lose their primary bid. Assemblymember Rafael Fraguela was knocked off the ballot in 2003 by the Hudson County Democratic Party and chose to run for the Senate as a Republican against

. Fraguela insisted that the Democrats "have been putting aside all the Hispanic Democratic candidates", while "The GOP has had open arms to the Hispanic community". Caridad Rodriguez resigned from office in May 2011 after winning a seat on the

Board of Commissioners.Mestanza, Jean-Pierre
"Dr. Felix Roque, four other new commissioners take oaths in West New York Town Hall, then Roque is picked to be mayor"
''

The Jersey Journal ''The Jersey Journal'' is a daily newspaper, published from Monday through Saturday, covering news and events throughout Hudson County, New Jersey. ''The Journal'' is a sister paper to ''The Star-Ledger'' of Newark, ''The Times'' of Trenton an ...

'', May 18, 2011. Accessed May 24, 2011. "Commissioner Caridad Rodriguez, 62, who resigned from the state Assembly yesterday, will lead the Department of Revenue and Finance."

Demographic characteristics

Political representation

District composition since 1973

Election history

Election results

Senate

General Assembly

References