Nilsa Cruz-Perez (born January 21, 1961) is an American

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who was sworn into office to represent the 5th Legislative District 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, ...

on December 15, 2014, to fill the vacant seat of

Donald Norcross Donald W. Norcross (born December 13, 1958) is an American politician and labor leader who is the U.S. representative for in South Jersey. A member of the Democratic Party, Norcross was first elected to this congressional seat in 2014, followi ...

. She had previously 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 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

from 1995 to 2010 and is the first

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

woman to serve in the Assembly.

Early life

Cruz-Perez born on January 21, 1961, in

Bayamón, Puerto Rico Bayamón (, ) is a Bayamón barrio-pueblo, city, Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality of Puerto Rico and suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico, San Juan located in the northern coastal valley, north of Aguas Buenas, Puerto Rico, Aguas Buenas an ...

. She attended the

University of Puerto Rico The University of Puerto Rico ( es, Universidad de Puerto Rico, UPR) is the main public university system in the U.S. Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a government-owned corporation with 11 campuses and approximately 58,000 students and 5,3 ...

earning a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

, Big Bend Community College Army Quartermaster School and the

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

Overseas Division. Cruz-Perez served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1981 to 1987, attaining the rank of

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

. Cruz-Perez works as a part-time community development specialist for the Camden County Improvement Authority. Formerly a resident of Camden, she now resides in Barrington.

New Jersey Assembly

Cruz-Perez was selected in February 1995 to fill the vacancy created by resignation of Assemblyman

Wayne R. Bryant Wayne R. Bryant (born November 7, 1947) is an American Democratic Party politician, who served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1995 to 2008, where he represented the 5th Legislative District. He is also a convicted felon for corruption. Befo ...

, when Bryant was selected to fill the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

seat vacated due to the death of Senator

Walter Rand Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...

on January 6, 1995. She was sworn into the Assembly on February 27. Serving in the Assembly until 2010, representing the 5th District for the entire time she was serving, she was the Assistant Majority Leader from 2002–2005 and Deputy Majority Leader from January 2008 to January 2010.Assemblywoman Cruz-Perez's legislative web page

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 ...

. Accessed November 15, 2016. In 2009 she announced that she would retire after her current term in the legislature. Cruz-Perez was the primary sponsor of Bill S2599 which seeks to change the legal term of “illegal alien” to “undocumented foreign national."

Committee assignments

*Consumer Affairs *Housing and Local Government *Human Services *Military and Veterans Affairs

New Jersey Senate

Following the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

and swearing in of State Senator Donald Norcross to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

in 2014, the Democratic committees of Camden and

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

counties (the two counties within the 5th district) appointed Cruz-Perez to the vacant Senate seat. She will serve until a special election in 2015 in which she is running. While in the Senate, she is serving on the Economic Growth, (vice-chair), Military and Veterans' Affairs, and Transportation committees and Joint Committee on the Public Schools. In addition to her legislative duties, she is also a Vice-Chair of the

New Jersey Democratic State Committee The New Jersey Democratic State Committee (NJDSC) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of New Jersey. LeRoy J. Jones Jr. is the chair and Peg Schaffer is the vice chair. Structure The NJDSC has a 13-member executive commit ...

(since 2015) and a member of the

Rutgers University–Camden Rutgers University–Camden is one of three regional campuses of Rutgers University, New Jersey's public research university. It is located in Camden, New Jersey. Founded in 1929 as the South Jersey Law School, Rutgers–Camden began as an amalg ...

Board of Directors (since 2014). Between her legislative stints, she was the Democratic Vice-Chair of the 2011

New Jersey Apportionment Commission The New Jersey Apportionment Commission is a constitutionally-created ten-member commission responsible for reapportioning the forty districts of the New Jersey Legislature. The commission is convened after each decennial U.S. Census, and the ...

, the committee delegated to redraw the state legislative districts following the 2010 Census.

Committee assignments

*Economic Growth *State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation *Joint Committee on Housing Affordability *Budget and Appropriations

District 5

New Jersey's 5th Legislative Districts comprises parts of Camden and Gloucester counties. The current representatives to the

218th New Jersey Legislature The 218th New Jersey Legislature began on January 9, 2018 following the 2017 Elections. The session started in the end of Chris Christie's governorship and continued in the first two years of Phil Murphy's governorship. Background The elections ...

are:Legislative Roster 2016-2017 Session

. Accessed August 17, 2016. *Senator Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D) *Assemblyman

William Spearman William W. Spearman (born February 27, 1958) is an American Democratic Party politician from Camden, who has represented the 5th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since taking office on June 30, 2018. Raised in Camden, ...

(D) , and *Assemblywoman

Patricia Egan Jones Patricia Egan Jones is an American Democratic Party politician who represented the 5th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since she was sworn into office on November 9, 2015, until her retirement in January 2020. Early li ...

(D)

Electoral history

New Jersey Senate

New Jersey Assembly

References

External links

Senator Cruz-Perez's legislative web page

*''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
2015201420082007200620052004Nilsa I. Cruz-Perez

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cruz-Perez, Nilsa 1961 births American politicians of Puerto Rican descent Living people Democratic Party New Jersey state senators Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Politicians from Camden, New Jersey People from Barrington, New Jersey People from Bayamón, Puerto Rico Temple University alumni United States Army soldiers University of Puerto Rico alumni Women state legislators in New Jersey Women in the United States Army Puerto Rican people in New Jersey politics Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Puerto Rican women in the military 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New Jersey