New Jersey's 17th 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 ...

. As of the 2011 apportionment, the district includes the Middlesex County municipalities of Milltown, New Brunswick, North Brunswick, Piscataway, along with the Somerset County municipality of Franklin Township.Districts by Number

. Accessed January 30, 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 235,376, of whom 188,877 (80.2%) were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 71,398 (30.3%) White, 44,522 (18.9%) African American, 1,963 (0.8%) Native American, 57,211 (24.3%) Asian, 113 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 38,911 (16.5%) from some other race, and 21,258 (9.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 63,076 (26.8%) of the population. The district had 149,525 registered voters as of December 1, 2021, of whom 58,590 (39.2%) were registered as Unaffiliated, 70,819 (47.4%) were registered as Democrats, 18,119 (12.1%) were registered as

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, and 1,997 (1.3%) were registered to other parties. Home ownership was high. The district had a large population of

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

s, third highest in the state, while having the third-smallest population of senior citizens among the 40 legislative districts. Registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans by a 3 to 1 margin.

Political representation

For the 2022–2023 session, the district is represented in the State Senate by Bob Smith ( D, Piscataway) and in the General Assembly by

Joseph Danielsen Joseph Danielsen is an American Democratic Party politician, who represents the 17th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he has served since October 16, 2014, after being appointed to fill the vacant seat of Upendra J. ...

(D, Franklin Township, Somerset County) and

Joseph V. Egan Joseph V. Egan (born February 27, 1938) is an American Democratic Party politician, who represents the 17th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he has served since 2002. Egan has served in the General Assembly as th ...

(D, New Brunswick). The legislative district overlaps with New Jersey's 6th and 12th congressional districts.

Apportionment history

Since the 1973 creation of the 40-district legislative map, the 17th District has always been anchored by the city of New Brunswick and Piscataway Township. The 1973 iteration of the district also included Franklin Township and Manville in Somerset County and Highland Park, Middlesex,

Dunellen Dunellen () is a borough in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. It is located within the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 7,637, reflecting an increase of 410 (+5.4%) from the 7, ...

, and South Plainfield. In the 1981 redistricting, the two Somerset County municipalities were shifted to the 14th District while the 17th picked up the Union County city of Plainfield. Dunellen was removed under the 1991 redistricting, but Somerset's Bound Brook was added. As part of the 2001 apportionment, based on the results of the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...

, changes were made which removed Bound Brook (moved to the District 16), Middlesex Borough and Plainfield City (to District 22) and South Plainfield borough (to the District 18) and added Franklin Township (from the 16th Legislative District), Milltown Borough and North Brunswick Township (also from District 18). Changes to the district made as part of the New Jersey Legislative apportionment in 2011, based on the results of the 2010 Census resulted in the removal of Highland Park (to District 18). After 20 years in office, John A. Lynch Sr. did not run for re-election in 1977, due to illness. Assembly Speaker

William J. Hamilton William J. Hamilton Jr. (December 26, 1932 – October 10, 2019) was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey, who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature, where he represented Middlesex County. He was Speaker of the ...

ran for the vacant Senate seat and

Joseph D. Patero Joseph D. Patero (March 30, 1932 – June 20, 2020) was an American politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1974 to 1986 and from 1988 to 1991. During the majority of his tenure in the Assembly, he served as chair of the Ass ...

and

David C. Schwartz David C. Schwartz (February 27, 1939 – June 10, 2022) was an American politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 ( ...

were the Democratic candidates for Assembly in a district that voted for Democrats by a 2-1 margin. After losing the support of the Middlesex County Democratic Organization, Assemblymember Angela L. Perun announced in March 1985 that she had switched parties and would run as a Republican in that year's general election, after having served two terms in office as a Democrat and having been a vocal opponent of the Reagan Administration. Piscataway mayor Bob Smith was given Perun's spot and the Assembly ballot, and he won election together with incumbent David C. Schwartz. Despite his confidence that he would win re-election if he chose to run, David C. Schwartz decided not to run for re-election in 1991 after seven terms of office, saying that he was reluctant to serve in the minority party in the new legislative term. Jerry Green took Schwartz's open seat in the general Election. Bob Smith was elected to his first Senate term in November 2001 to fill the seat vacated after Lynch retired. Jerry Green was relocated to the 22nd Legislative District in redistricting following the

, and the two open Assembly seats were filled by

Upendra J. Chivukula Upendra Chivukula (born October 8, 1950) is a Democratic politician who currently serves as a Commissioner on the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities after serving more than 12 years in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he had been the De ...

and

. Chivukula's election made him the first South Asian to be elected to the New Jersey Legislature and the third

Indian American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

to be elected to a state assembly in the United States.

was sworn into the New Jersey General Assembly on October 16, 2014 to fill the vacant seat of

, who left office to take a seat as a Commissioner on the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.Friedman, Matt
"N.J. Assembly swears in new member from Somerset County"
NJ.com, October 16, 2014. Accessed October 19, 2014. "Joseph Danielsen, the municipal chairman of the Franklin Township Democrats, was sworn in today to fill the state Assembly seat just vacated by Democrat Upendra Chivukula, whom Gov. Chris Christie tapped for a seat on the state Board of Public Utilities." Owing to Middlesex County's strong Democratic leanings, the 17th District has never elected a Republican legislator, only being briefly represented by one when Perun switched parties in 1985.

Election history

Election results

Senate

General Assembly

References

{{NewJerseyLegislatureDistricts Middlesex County, New Jersey Somerset County, New Jersey 17