New Jersey's 6th Legislative District is one of 40 in the
New Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...
, covering the
Burlington County municipality of
Maple Shade Township and the
Camden County municipalities of
Berlin Township,
Cherry Hill Township,
Collingswood Borough,
Gibbsboro Borough,
Haddon Township,
Haddonfield Borough,
Hi-Nella Borough,
Merchantville Borough,
Oaklyn Borough,
Pennsauken Township,
Somerdale Borough,
Stratford Borough,
Tavistock Borough and
Voorhees Township as of the
2011 apportionment.
[Districts by Number]
New Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...
. Accessed January 26, 2014.
Demographic characteristics
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 234,108, of whom 184,707 (78.9%) were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 150,824 (64.4%)
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 ...
, 25,121 (10.7%)
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 ...
, 896 (0.4%)
Native American, 24,176 (10.3%)
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 ...
, 103 (0.0%)
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 ...
, 14,822 (6.3%) from
some other race, and 18,166 (7.8%) from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, 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 Vic ...
or
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 31,071 (13.3%) of the population.
The district had 186,310 registered voters as of December 1, 2021, of whom 63,956 (34.3%) were registered as
unaffiliated, 87,315 (46.9%) were registered as
Democrats, 32,986 (17.7%) were registered as
Republicans, and 2,053 (1.1%) were registered to other parties.
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 ...
by
James Beach
James "Jim" Beach (born October 28, 1946) is an American Democratic Party politician who has served in the New Jersey Senate since 2009, where he represents the 6th legislative district. He has been the Assistant Majority Leader in the Senat ...
(
D,
Voorhees Township) 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
Louis Greenwald
Louis D. Greenwald (born March 11, 1967) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has represented the 6th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since taking office on January 9, 1996. He has served as the Assembly Majo ...
(D, Voorhees Township) and
Pamela Rosen Lampitt
Pamela Rosen Lampitt (born December 19, 1960) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has represented the 6th legislative district in the New Jersey General Assembly since taken office on January 10, 2006. She has been the Deputy Speak ...
(D,
Cherry Hill).
Legislative Roster
New Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...
. Accessed January 11, 2022.
The legislative district is entirely located within New Jersey's 1st congressional district
New Jersey's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The district, which includes Camden and South Jersey suburbs of Philadelphia, has been represented by Democrat Donald Norcross since November 2 ...
.
1965–1973
The 1964 Supreme Court decision in ''Reynolds v. Sims
''Reynolds v. Sims'', 377 U.S. 533 (1964), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that the electoral districts of state legislative chambers must be roughly equal in population. Along with '' Baker v. Carr'' (19 ...
'' required legislative districts' populations be equal as possible. As an interim measure, the 6th District in the 1965 State Senate election encompassed all of Mercer County and elected one person to the Senate. In this case, incumbent Democratic Mercer County Senator Sido L. Ridolfi was elected for a two-year term beginning in 1966.[
For the three terms between 1967 and 1973, the Sixth Senate District was split into two Assembly districts. For the 1967 election, since the Sixth only encompassed one county, two senators were elected at-large; in this case, Democrats Ridolfi and ]Richard J. Coffee
Richard J. Coffee (February 14, 1925 – February 19, 2017) was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey who served in the New Jersey Senate and as chairman of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee.
Biography
Coffee was born in ...
were elected for this four-year term.[ In the 1971 election, with the addition of ]Hunterdon County
Hunterdon County is a county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population was 128,947, making it the state's 18th-most populous county,[William E. Schluter
William Everett Schluter (November 5, 1927 – August 6, 2018) was an American Republican Party politician from New Jersey, who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature in two separate instances.
Early life and career
Schluter was bo ...]
was elected from District 6A and Democrat Joseph P. Merlino
Joseph P. Merlino (July 12, 1922 – October 7, 1998) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as President of the New Jersey Senate from 1978 to 1981.
Early life and career
Merlino was born in 1922 in Trenton, New Jersey, th ...
was elected from District 6B in the 1971 election.[
Two Assembly members were elected from each district in 1967, 1969, and 1971. Assembly District 6B was made up of Trenton and Ewing Township while District 6A was composed of the remainder of Mercer County for the 1967 and 1969 elections.][ In the 1971 election, District 6B was composed of Trenton, Hamilton Township, and Washington Township with District 6A encompassing the remainder of Mercer and the entirety of Hunterdon County.][
The members elected to the Assembly from each district are as follows:][
]
District composition since 1973
Upon the creation of 40 equal-population districts in 1973, the 6th District became based around the eastern suburbs of Camden inclusive of Cherry Hill in all iterations. The 1970s district stretched from Berlin borough north to Pennsauken and included Burlington County's Evesham Township and Palmyra
Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early secon ...
.[ The 1981 redistricting made the 6th solely Camden County-based by heading from Pine Hill east then north to Merchantville, and the cluster of boroughs around Collingswood, Haddonfield, and Haddon Heights.][ The 1991 redistricting kept the 6th relatively unchanged.][ The 2001 redistricting removed some of the small boroughs in the Haddon Heights and Barrington vicinity but brought the district to the southern edge of Camden County to include Winslow Township, Chesilhurst, and Waterford Township.][ Following the 2011 redistricting, the southern Camden County municipalities were eliminated from the 6th and restored some of the immediate Camden suburbs including Collingswood and Pennsauken and expanded the district into Burlington County for the first time since 1982 by including Maple Shade.][
]
Election history
Election results, 1973–present
Senate
General Assembly
Election results, 1965–1973
Senate
District 6 At-large
District 6A
District 6B
General Assembly
District 6A
District 6B
References
{{NewJerseyLegislatureDistricts
Burlington County, New Jersey
Camden County, New Jersey
06