Donald W. Norcross (born December 13, 1958) is an American politician and labor leader who is the U.S. representative for in

South Jersey South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrativ ...

. A member of the Democratic Party, Norcross was first elected to this congressional seat in 2014, following the resignation of

Rob Andrews Robert Ernest Andrews (born August 4, 1957) is an American politician who served as a U.S. representative for from 1990 to 2014. The district included most of Camden County and parts of Burlington County and Gloucester County. Early life, ...

. His district covers much of the New Jersey side of the

Philadelphia metro area The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Vall ...

, including Camden, Cherry Hill, Lindenwold, and Glassboro. Before entering electoral politics, Norcross was involved in the leadership of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 351 and was president of the Southern New Jersey AFL-CIO Central Labor Council. He was elected to the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

in 2009, but shortly after his term began in January 2010, he was appointed to fill a vacancy in the

New Jersey State Senate The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...

, where he remained until his election to the House of Representatives. For the

117th United States Congress The 117th United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C., ...

, Norcross is a member of the committees on Armed Services as well as Education and Labor. He is a member of the

Congressional Progressive Caucus The Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) is a congressional caucus affiliated with the Democratic Party in the United States Congress. The CPC represents the most left-leaning faction of the Democratic Party. " e Congressional Progressive Cau ...

and the

New Democrat Coalition The New Democrat Coalition is a caucus in the House of Representatives of the United States Congress made up of Democrats, primarily centrists, who take a pro-business stance and a moderate-to-conservative approach to fiscal matters. As of ...

, and is a founding member of the Bipartisan Building Trades Caucus.

Early life and education

Norcross was born on December 13, 1958 in Camden, the son of George E. Norcross Jr. and the brother of George E. Norcross III and

John C. Norcross John C. Norcross (born 1957) is an American professor, board-certified clinical psychologist, and author in psychotherapy, behavior change, and self-help. He is Distinguished Professor and chair of psychology at the University of Scranton and Cl ...

. He and his three brothers were raised in

Pennsauken Township Pennsauken Township is a township in Camden County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the township's population was 37,074, reflecting an increase of 1,189 (+3.3%) from the 35,885 count ...

. He graduated from Camden County College with a degree in

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

, and attended Rutgers University-Camden. He was raised in the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

faith.

Career

In 1980, Norcross served as an apprentice in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, eventually becoming assistant business manager of the IBEW Local 351. A former president of the Southern New Jersey Building Trades Council, he served as president of the Southern New Jersey AFL-CIO Central Labor Council for 16 years.Profile
norcross.house.gov; accessed November 17, 2014. Norcross and his running mate, Camden City Council President Angel Fuentes, were elected to the Assembly in 2009 after Democrat incumbents

Nilsa Cruz-Perez Nilsa Cruz-Perez (born January 21, 1961) is an American Democratic Party politician who was sworn into office to represent the 5th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate on December 15, 2014, to fill the vacant seat of Donald Norcross. Sh ...

and

Joseph J. Roberts Joseph J. Roberts (born July 14, 1952) is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1987 to 2010, where he represented the 5th Legislative District. He was also Speaker of the Assembly (2006– ...

both retired. Shortly thereafter, Norcross was appointed to the Senate seat vacated by

Dana Redd Dana L. Redd (born March 7, 1968) is an American Democratic politician who served as the Mayor of Camden, from 2010 to 2018. Redd served in the New Jersey Senate from January 8, 2008, to January 5, 2010, representing the 5th Legislative Dist ...

, who was elected mayor of Camden. Norcross won the Senate special election in 2010 to finish out the term, then was reelected to the New Jersey Senate in 2011 and 2013.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

2014

On February 4, 2014, South Jersey Congressman

announced he would resign from Congress by the end of the month, and he did so on February 18."N.J. Democrat Rob Andrews to resign from Congress"
washingtonpost.com; accessed November 17, 2014. Norcross announced his candidacy on February 5, and within a week, he was endorsed by every New Jersey congressional Democrat, State Senate President

Stephen Sweeney Stephen M. Sweeney (born June 11, 1959) is an American politician and labor leader who served in the New Jersey Senate from 2002 to 2022, representing the 3rd legislative district. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the 114th President o ...

, General Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald, Mayor of Camden

, U.S. Senator

Cory Booker Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is the first African-American U.S. se ...

, and former Governor

Jim Florio James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district from ...

(who represented the 1st from 1975 to 1990).Rob Andrews to leave Congress
philly.com; accessed November 17, 2014.

Tenure

Women's March on New Jersey 1 21 17 - 31608724104

Norcross won the Democratic primary—the real contest in what has long been the only safe Democratic district in South Jersey—with 72% of the vote. He ran in two elections on November 4: a special election for the balance of Andrews's term, and a regular election for a full two-year term. He easily won both over Republican challenger

Garry Cobb Garry Wilbert Cobb (born March 16, 1957 in Carthage, North Carolina) is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions, and Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football at the U ...

. He was sworn in on November 12 by House Speaker

John Boehner John Andrew Boehner ( ; born , 1949) is an American retired politician who served as the 53rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served 13 terms as the U.S. represe ...

. Since he was added to the House roll on that date, he gained more seniority than other members of the House freshman class of 2014. Soon after his election, Norcross was appointed assistant whip, a role he reprised after his 2016 reelection. He now serves in a number of leadership roles in the Democratic Caucus, including co-chair of the Rebuilding America Task Force, member of the Steering and Policy Committee, and member of the Communications Committee. He is also the co-founder of the Bipartisan Building Trades Caucus and vice chair of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic, and was appointed to the Joint Select Committee on Pension Security.

Hot mic incident

On June 24, 2021, during a remote

United States House Committee on Education and Labor The Committee on Education and Labor is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. There are 50 members in this committee. Since 2019, the chair of the Education and Labor committee is Robert Cortez Scott of Virginia. H ...

meeting over Zoom with

Secretary of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

Miguel Cardona, Representative Bob Good was questioning Cardona when someone interrupted by shouting "racist!", while Norcross's name flashed on the screen, leading participants to believe that Norcross made the remark; a later report from

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is o ...

explicitly attributed the outburst to Norcross. A letter signed by every Republican member of the committee demanded an apology from Committee Chairman Bobby Scott for what they considered a "slander" and a "smear" against Good. Scott responded by calling the outburst "inappropriate" and "out of order". Norcross did not publicly address the incident.

Committee assignments

* Committee on Armed Services ** Subcommittee on Strategic Forces ** Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces * Committee on Education and the Workforce **

Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions The House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions is a standing subcommittee within the United States House Committee on Education and Labor. It was formerly known as the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations. Jurisdiction Fro ...

*House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee *House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee *Joint Select Committee on Pension Security

Caucus memberships

*Founding member of the Bipartisan Building Trades Caucus *Vice Chair of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic *

Blue Collar Caucus The Blue Collar Caucus is a Democratic Party (United States), United States Democratic Party congressional caucus that advocates for labor and working class priorities. It was founded in 2016 to focus the Democratic Party on blue-collar issues. ...

Veterinary Medicine Caucus The Congressional Veterinary Medicine Caucus is a Congressional Member Organization within the United States Congress and is officially recognized by the Committee on House Administration. Information and purpose According to the Caucus's offici ...

Personal life

Norcross is married to Andrea Doran, an echocardiographer. They have two children. Norcross also has a third child, Donald Jr., by his first wife, Nancy. His brother George is a New Jersey Democratic leader and businessman. He has another brother,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

, a

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the pre ...

, author, and professor at the

University of Scranton The University of Scranton is a private Jesuit university in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1888 by William O'Hara, the first Bishop of Scranton, as St. Thomas College. In 1938, the college was elevated to university status and took t ...

. Norcross lives in Camden.

Electoral history

New Jersey State Senate

U.S. House of Representatives

Notes

References

External links

Congressman Donald Norcross
official U.S. House website
Donald Norcross for Congress
official campaign website * * , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Norcross, Donald 1958 births 21st-century American politicians American electricians Camden County College alumni Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey Living people Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Democratic Party New Jersey state senators People from Pennsauken Township, New Jersey Politicians from Camden, New Jersey Trade unionists from New Jersey