New Jersey's 37th legislative district is one of 40 in the state, covering the
Bergen County
Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Bogota, Englewood,
Englewood Cliffs
Englewood Cliffs is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 5,342, an increase of 61 (+1.2%) from the 2010 census count of 5,281, which in turn reflected a ...
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. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held every September. As of the 2020 United States cen ...
and
Tenafly
Tenafly () is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 15,409, an increase of 921 (+6.4%) from the 2010 census count of 14,488, which in turn reflected an ...
.
Demographic characteristics
As of the 2020 United States census, 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 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 ...
, 30,788 (13.3%)
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 ...
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 ...
, 30,166 (13.0%) from some other race, and 23,357 (10.1%) 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 56,951 (24.5%) of the population.
The district had 158,787 registered voters , of whom 75,885 (47.8%) were registered as Democrats, 56,995 (35.9%) were registered as unaffiliated, 24,356 (15.3%) 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 ...
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 ...
, February 1, 2025. Accessed February 4, 2025.
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
The legislative district overlaps with
New Jersey's 5th congressional district
New Jersey's 5th congressional district is represented by Democrat Josh Gottheimer, who has served in Congress since 2017. The district stretches across the entire northern border of the state and contains most of Bergen County, as well as p ...
.
Apportionment history
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, 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 the 38th district), Ridgefield Park (to the 36th district) were removed and Alpine, Cresskill, Fort Lee, Northvale and Rockleigh were added.
As of 2023, registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a better than 3-1 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, 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 (United States), Democratic Party politician from New Jersey who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature. He served in the New Jersey General Assembly ...
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 politician who served as a New Jersey State Senator and Mayor of Teaneck, New Jersey.
As Mayor of Teaneck in the early 1960s, he achieved racial and po ...
. Together with Assembly running mates Weinberg and Ken Zisa, 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 and Englewood Mayor
Michael Wildes
Michael Jay Wildes (born November 27, 1964) is an American lawyer and Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party politician, serving as the 38th mayor of Englewood, New Jersey since 2018, and previously as the 36th mayor from 2004 to 201 ...
The Record
The Record may refer to:
Music
* The Record (Fear album), ''The Record'' (Fear album), a 1982 studio album by the hardcore-punk band Fear
* The Record (Boygenius album), ''The Record'' (Boygenius album), a 2023 studio album by the indie rock supe ...
'', 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."
Election history
Senators and Assembly members elected from the district are as follows: