New Jersey's 19th 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 district includes the Middlesex County municipalities of Carteret,

Perth Amboy Perth Amboy is a city in northeastern Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York Metro Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy is known as the "City by the Bay", re ...

Sayreville Sayreville is a borough in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Sayreville is within the heart of the Raritan Valley region, located on the south banks of the Raritan River, and also located on the Raritan Bay. As of the 2020 Un ...

South Amboy South Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located on Raritan Bay. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,411, an increase of 780 (+9.0%) from the 2010 census count of 8,631, which in ...

, and Woodbridge Township.Municipalities (sorted by 2011 legislative district)
,

New Jersey Department of State The secretary of state of New Jersey oversees the Department of State, which is one of the original state offices. The Secretary is responsible for overseeing New Jersey State Council on the Arts, artistic, cultural, and New Jersey Historical Com ...

. Accessed January 31, 2014.

Demographic characteristics

As of the 2020 United States census, the district had a population of 239,157, of whom 186,467 (78.0%) were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 91,092 (38.1%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 26,240 (11.0%)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1,555 (0.7%) Native American, 42,125 (17.6%) Asian, 95 (0.0%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 47,945 (20.0%) from some other race, and 30,105 (12.6%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 87,729 (36.7%) of the population. The district had 155,334 registered voters as of December 1, 2021, of whom 60,854 (39.2%) were registered as unaffiliated, 69,040 (44.4%) were registered as Democrats, 22,878 (14.7%) 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 2,562 (1.7%) were registered to other parties. The district has a higher-than-average percentage of

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

and

residents. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a nearly 4 to 1 margin, with Republican registration percentage one of the lowest of any district statewide.

Political representation

The legislative district is entirely located within

New Jersey's 6th congressional district New Jersey's 6th congressional district is represented by Democratic Party (United States), Democrat Frank Pallone, who has served the district in Congress since 1993. The district includes the northern and eastern portions of Middlesex County, ...

Apportionment history

Throughout the history of the 19th district since its creation in 1973 coinciding with the first drawing of the 40-district legislative map, the municipalities that make up the district has been relatively unchanged. In all maps, Perth Amboy, Sayreville, South Amboy, and Woodbridge have been a part of the district. The 1973 version of the district solely included those four municipalities. In the 1981 redistricting, South River was added to the district. Following the 1991 redistricting, South River was removed and Carteret was added. Since the 1991 redistricting, no changes have been made to the boundaries of the district, including after the redistricting in 2001, based on the results of the 2000 United States Census and the 2011 redistricting.Legislative Districts

, backed up by the

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as of December 6, 1998. Accessed July 6, 2010. In the 1977 Democratic primaries, Laurence S. Weiss defeated incumbent senator John J. Fay Jr., and went on to win election.

Alan Karcher Alan J. Karcher (May 19, 1943 – July 26, 1999) was an American Democratic Party politician whose highest office was Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly. He was a member of the Assembly from 1974 to 1990 and was a one-time candidate fo ...

chose to run for the Democratic nomination for

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

in 1989, and was replaced in the Assembly by future Governor

Jim McGreevey James Edward McGreevey (born August 6, 1957) is an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as the 52nd governor of New Jersey from 2002 until his resignation in 2004 amidst a sex scandal. McGreevey served in the New Jersey Genera ...

. Having first been elected to the Assembly in 1973,

George Otlowski George John Otlowski (January 3, 1912 – March 16, 2009) was an American publisher turned Democratic Party politician who served on the Board of Chosen Freeholders for Middlesex County, New Jersey for eight years. He served in the New Jers ...

lost a three-way race for the two Assembly seats in the 1991 primary election. In the statewide Republican landslide in the 1991 general election, Weiss lost his Senate seat to Randy Corman, while in the Assembly Stephen A. Mikulak and Ernest L. Oros defeated Democratic candidates Thomas J. Deverin and Jay Ziznewski, putting Republicans in all three legislative seats in what had been described by ''

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'' as a "blue-collar and traditionally rock-solid Democratic district". In the 1993 race,

won the Senate seat back for the Democrats over Randy Corman, with Republican incumbents Mikulak and Oros hanging on to their seats in the Assembly. Democrats statewide saw a net gain of three seats in the Assembly in the 1995 elections, with two of the pickups coming in the 19th district where

Arline Friscia Arline M. Friscia (November 13, 1934 – October 16, 2019) was an American politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1996 to 2004, where she represented the New Jersey's 19th legislative district, 19th Legislative District. O ...

and John Wisniewski knocked off the Republican incumbents Mikulak and Oros. McGreevey stepped down from his Senate seat in 1997 to run for Governor of New Jersey and was replaced by Joe Vitale. After McGreevey's narrow loss to Republican

Christine Todd Whitman Christine Temple Whitman (; born September 26, 1946) is an American politician and author who served as the 50th governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush ...

, ''

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'' reported speculation that Vitale would step down from the Senate and McGreevey would be named to the Senate seat, a rumor that McGreevey dismissed. In the 2003 Democratic primary, Friscia lost the official endorsement of the Middlesex County Democratic Organization, which went instead to

mayor Joseph Vas. Friscia objected to being knocked off the party line, stating that "a history of women being knocked off tickets in Middlesex County" exists as "part of a long sad history of the Democratic Party disenfranchising qualified women". She lost in the June 2003 Democratic primary election to Vas and announced her party switch on August 5, 2003.Fitzgerald, Barbara
Reflections on a Glass Ceiling"
''

'', August 10, 2003. Accessed June 3, 2010. In a similar situation to what happened with 17th district Assemblywoman Angela L. Perun in 1985, Republicans Frisca and running mate Jeffrey Pino were defeated by Vas and Wisniewski in the 2003 general election. On September 8, 2009, a special convention of Middlesex County Democratic Committee members selected

Craig Coughlin Craig John Coughlin (born January 31, 1958) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has represented the 19th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2010. He has served as the Speaker of the New Jersey General Ass ...

to appear on the general election ballot along with incumbent Wisniewski, and the two Democrats went on to win in the November general election.Chang, Kathy
"Coughlin wins vote to run for Assembly"
''Suburban News'', September 3, 2009. Accessed September 17, 2016. "After what Middlesex County Democratic Party Chairman Joseph Spicuzzo called a 'tough choice,' the 272 committee members who came out last night voted for Craig J. Coughlin as their choice to run for the District 19 Assembly race this November."

Demographic characteristics

Political representation

Apportionment history

Election history

Election results

Senate

General Assembly

References