New Jersey's 37th Legislative District is one of 40 in the state, covering the

Bergen County Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Alpine Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to: Places Europe * Alps, a European mountain range ** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range Australia * Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village * Alpine National Pa ...

, Bogota,

Cresskill Cresskill is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 8,573,Englewood,

Englewood Cliffs Englewood Cliffs is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, whose population at the 2010 United States census was 5,281.Fort Lee, Hackensack,

Leonia Leonia is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 8,937,Northvale, Palisades Park, Rockleigh,

Teaneck Teaneck () is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 39,776, reflecting an increase of 516 (+1.3%) f ...

and

Tenafly Tenafly () is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the borough had a population of 15,409,2020 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 231,985.

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 231,985, of whom 184,858 (79.7%) were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 88,331 (38.1%)

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 on ...

, 30,788 (13.3%)

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 ...

, 1,547 (0.7%) Native American, 57,714 (24.9%)

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 ...

, 82 (0.0%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, 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 the original p ...

, 30,166 (13.0%) from some other race, and 23,357 (10.1%) 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 ...

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 56,951 (24.5%) of the population. The district had 157,713 registered voters as of December 1, 2021, of whom 55,363 (35.1%) were registered as unaffiliated, 78,021 (49.5%) were registered as Democrats, 22,724 (14.4%) were registered as Republicans, and 1,605 (1.0%) were registered to other parties. African-American residents account for 16.6% of the district's population, mostly in Englewood, Hackensack, and Teaneck. The 37th has the fourth-highest percentage of Asian residents of all districts statewide, accounting for 13.4% of the population.

Political representation

For the 2022–2023 session, the district is represented in the

New Jersey 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, ...

by Gordon M. Johnson ( D, Englewood) 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 presby ...

by Shama Haider (D,

Englewood Cliffs Englewood Cliffs is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, whose population at the 2010 United States census was 5,281.New Jersey's 5th and

9th 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

congressional districts.

District composition since 1973

The 37th District was created in 1973 along with the 40-district statewide legislative map. Some municipalities in the district in the 1970s included

Bergenfield Bergenfield is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 28,321, an increase of 1,557 from the 2010 censuscount of 26,764,Edgewater, Englewood, Fort Lee, Teaneck and Tenafly. After the 1981 redistricting, the only change made to the district was the addition of Fairview. In the 1991 redistricting, some of the towns at the southern end of the district as well as Tenafly and Englewood Cliffs were shifted to other districts while it expanded west to Ridgefield Park, Bogota, Hackensack, and Maywood. Changes made as a result of the 2001 redistricting including the reinstatement of Palisades Park, Tenafly, and Englewood Cliffs and the addition of Rochelle Park but Fort Lee was removed from the district at this time. In the 2011 apportionment following the 2010 Census, Bergenfield, Maywood, and Rochelle Park (to

District 38 A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

), Ridgefield Park (to

District 36 A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

) were removed and Alpine, Cresskill, Fort Lee, Northvale and Rockleigh were added. As of 2010, registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 2-1 ratio in the district. The 37th has never elected any legislators other than Democrats; one of only nine districts statewide to have only sent members of one political party to Trenton.

Loretta Weinberg Loretta Weinberg (born February 6, 1935) is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as a member of the New Jersey Senate from 2005-2022, where she represented the 37th Legislative District. She also served as Senate Majority Leader. ...

was chosen by Democratic committee members in March 1992 to fill the seat vacated in the Assembly by

D. Bennett Mazur David Bennett Mazur (December 14, 1924 – October 11, 1994) was an American politician and academic who served six terms in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 37th Legislative District from 1982 to 1992. Mazur also sp ...

, who had resigned due to illness. In February 1993,

Byron Baer Byron M. Baer (October 18, 1929 – June 24, 2007) was an American Democratic Party politician from New Jersey who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature. He served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1972 to 1993 and in the State ...

announced that he would run for the seat in the New Jersey State Senate being vacated by

Matthew Feldman Matthew Feldman (March 22, 1919 – April 11, 1994) was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician who served as a New Jersey Senate, New Jersey State Senator and Mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey. As Mayor of Tea ...

. Together with Assembly running mates Weinberg and

Ken Zisa Charles "Ken" Zisa (born January 27, 1954) is an American Democratic Party politician, who served as a member of the New Jersey General Assembly from 1994 to 2002, where he represented the 37th Legislative District. A lifelong resident of Hac ...

, who was on the ballot for Baer's former Assembly seat, Baer won election to the Senate. The Bergen County Democratic Organization caucused in September 2005, to select a candidate to replace Baer in the Senate who resigned on September 8, 2005 due to health issues. In balloting to replace Baer on an interim basis, Weinberg lost by a 114-110 margin to Zisa. In a separate vote, by a 112-111 margin, Zisa was selected over Weinberg to be the party's candidate on the November ballot. Weinberg filed suit to challenger the exclusion of five ballots and in October 2005 a ruling in Weinberg's favor was issued, giving Weinberg the interim position and the ballot post. With Weinberg's victory, Bergen County Freeholder

Valerie Huttle Valerie Vainieri Huttle (born September 15, 1956) is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly where she represented the 37th Legislative District, from 2006 to 2022. Huttle served on the Bergen Count ...

and Englewood Mayor

Michael Wildes Michael Jay Wildes (born November 27, 1964) is an American immigration lawyer and politician who serves as the 38th and current Mayor of Englewood, New Jersey. He previously served as the 36th Mayor of Englewood from 2004 to 2010. A member of the ...

both announced their candidacy for Weinberg's Assembly seat, with Huttle outpolling Wildes in another special convention by a 121-96 margin.Fallon, Scott
Huttle gets Democrats' nod to run for Assembly in 37th -- Freeholder defeats Englewood mayor in party tussle"
''

The Record (Bergen County) ''The Record'' (also called ''The North Jersey Record'', ''The Bergen Record'', ''The Sunday Record'' (Sunday edition) and formerly ''The Bergen Evening Record'') is a newspaper in New Jersey, United States. Serving Bergen, Essex, Hudson and P ...

'', October 7, 2005. Accessed June 15, 2010. "Freeholder Valerie Huttle will succeed Loretta Weinberg as a Democratic Assembly candidate in the 37th District after defeating Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes in a county committee election Thursday night. Huttle won, 121-96, to be the party's nominee on the Nov. 8 ballot. She will fill the rest of the Assembly term after Weinberg resigns."

Demographic characteristics

Political representation

District composition since 1973

Election history

Election results

Senate

General Assembly

References