New Jersey's 33rd legislative district is one of 40 in the state, covering the

Hudson County Hudson County is a List of counties in New Jersey, county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, its smallest and most densely populated. Lying in the northeast of the state and on the west bank of the North River (Hudson River), Hudson River, the No ...

municipalities of Guttenberg, North Bergen,

Secaucus Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 22,181, an increase of 5,917 (+36.4%) from the 2010 census count of 16,264, which in turn reflected an in ...

, Union City,

Weehawken Weehawken is a Township (New Jersey), township in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located on the Hudson Waterfront and Hudson Palisades overlooking ...

and West New York.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 ...

. Accessed January 26, 2014.

Demographic characteristics

As of the 2020 United States census, 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 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 ...

, 13,401 (5.4%)

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 ...

, 2,617 (1.0%) Native American, 44,188 (17.7%) Asian, 148 (0.1%)

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 ...

, 53,709 (21.5%) from some other race, and 35,215 (14.1%) 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 99,722 (39.9%) of the population. The district had 123,298 registered voters , of whom 71,353 (57.9%) were registered as Democrats, 36,107 (29.3%) were registered as unaffiliated, 14,314 (11.6%) were registered as Republicans, and 1,524 (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

The legislative district is entirely located within New Jersey's 8th congressional district.

Apportionment history

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, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

. 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, 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 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 ...

Thomas Kean Thomas Howard Kean ( ; born April 21, 1935) is an American politician, statesman, and academic administrator from the state of New Jersey. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, Kean served two terms as the 48th governor of New Jersey f ...

's wave of success in the 1985 elections, two Republicans won election, Jose Arango of West New York and Ronald Dario of Union City. The two defeated Democratic incumbents Robert Ranieri and newcomer Mario R. Hernandez.

Bob Menendez Robert Menendez (; born January 1, 1954) is an American former politician and lawyer who represented New Jersey in the United States Senate from 2006 until his resignation in 2024. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic ...

was elevated to fill the Senate vacancy following the death of Christopher Jackman in January 1991. Louis Romano was then chosen to fill the vacancy in the Assembly. After Robert Menendez was elected as

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

in November 1992, Assemblymember Bernard Kenny was chosen to fill Menendez's vacancy in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is 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 232,225 (2020 figure ...

. In turn,

Hudson County, New Jersey Hudson County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey, its smallest and most densely populated. Lying in the northeast of the state and on the west bank of the Hudson River, the North Jersey county is part of the state's Gateway Region an ...

Democratic Party boss Bruce Walter 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 West New York mayor Albio Sires. Four-term incumbent Louis Romano 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 Bernard Kenny. 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 West New York Board of Commissioners. In the wake of the 2021 apportionment, the reconfiguration of municipalities in the 32nd and 33rd districts and the incumbent Assembly members in those districts choosing to retire or run for other elective office, the Hudson County Democratic Organization chose newcomers Julio Marenco and Gabe Rodriguez to run for the two Assembly seats. Marenco and Rodriguez defeated independent candidate Lea Sherman, the only other candidate running in the

2023 New Jersey General Assembly election The 2023 New Jersey General Assembly elections were held on November 7, 2023. New Jersey voters elected two Assembly members in all of the state's legislative districts for a two-year term to the New Jersey General Assembly. This was the first ...

.''Official List Candidates for General Assembly for General Election November 7, 2023''

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 ...

Demographic characteristics

Political representation

Apportionment history

Election history

Election results

Senate

General Assembly

References