New Jersey's 8th Legislative District is one of 40 in the New Jersey Legislature, covering the

Atlantic County Atlantic County is a County (United States), county located along the southern coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the county had a population of 274,534.

municipality of Hammonton; the Burlington County municipalities of Eastampton Township, Evesham Township, Hainesport Township, Lumberton Township, Mansfield Township, Medford Township, Medford Lakes Borough, Mount Holly Township, Pemberton Borough, Pemberton Township, Shamong Township, Southampton Township, Springfield Township, Westampton Township and Woodland Township; and the Camden County municipalities of Berlin Borough, Pine Hill Borough, and Waterford Township as of the 2011 apportionment.

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 221,840, of whom 175,200 (79.0%) were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 164,132 (74.0%)

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, 22,489 (10.1%)

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 ...

, 541 (0.2%) Native American, 9,191 (4.1%) Asian, 141 (0.1%)

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, 7,333 (3.3%) from some other race, and 18,013 (8.1%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties forme ...

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 20,055 (9.0%) of the population. The district had 177,065 registered voters as of July 1, 2021, of whom 63,392 (35.8%) were registered as unaffiliated, 59,938 (33.9%) were registered as Democrats, 51,684 (29.2%) were registered as Republicans, and 2,051 (1.2%) were registered to other parties.

Political representation

For the 2022–2023 session, the district is represented in the New Jersey Senate by Jean Stanfield ( R, Westampton) 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 presb ...

by Michael Torrissi (R, Hammonton) and Brandon Umba (R, Medford).Legislative Roster for District 8
New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 11, 2022. The legislative district overlaps with New Jersey's 1st,

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and 3rd congressional districts.

1965–1973

During the period of time after the 1964 Supreme Court decision in ''

Reynolds v. Sims ''Reynolds v. Sims'', 377 U.S. 533 (1964), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that the electoral districts of state legislative chambers must be roughly equal in population. Along with '' Baker v. Carr'' (19 ...

'' and before the establishment of a 40-district legislature in 1973, the 8th District encompassed the entirety of Somerset County. During the three Senate elections held during this period (1965, 1967, and 1971), Republicans won all three races. Incumbent Senator

William E. Ozzard William E. Ozzard (June 15, 1915 — June 29, 2002) was an American Republican Party politician who served for 13 years in the New Jersey Legislature, serving as New Jersey Senate President in 1963. He was President of the New Jersey Board ...

won reelection in 1965 for a two-year term (though he resigned on July 10, 1967), while for the next two elections,

Raymond Bateman Raymond H. "Ray" Bateman (October 29, 1927 – June 25, 2016) was an American politician who represented Somerset County in the New Jersey Senate in the 1960s and 1970s and was the Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey in 1977. He was t ...

was victorious for both elections. In the terms from 1967 until 1973, the 8th District sent two members to the General Assembly. In all elections for two-year terms, Republicans won both seats. John H. Ewing was one victor in the three regular elections (1967, 1969, 1971), while Webster B. Todd Jr. (son of

Webster B. Todd Webster Bray Todd (August 27, 1899 – February 8, 1989) was a prominent American businessman, a Republican Party leader in New Jersey, and the father of New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman. Early life Todd was born in Yonkers, New York, t ...

, brother of Christine Todd Whitman) served one term from 1968 until 1970,

Millicent Fenwick Millicent Vernon Hammond Fenwick (February 25, 1910 – September 16, 1992) was an American fashion editor, politician and diplomat. A four-term Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey, she entered politic ...

was elected in 1969 and 1971, but resigned on December 14, 1972, to become head of the

New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs The New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs (DCA) is a governmental agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is responsible for protecting the public "from fraud, deceit and misrepresentation in the sale of goods and services." The DCA operate ...

, and Victor A. Rizzolo was elected in a special election on January 30, 1973, to complete her term.

District composition since 1973

When the Legislature was switched to 40 equal-population districts statewide, the 8th District created for the 1973 elections was an uncompact district in Burlington,

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, Monmouth, and

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counties. With the

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as a center spine, the district had branches to Medford Township, Manchester Township, Florence Township,

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, East Windsor Township, and Lawrence Township. In the 1980s, the 8th became inclusive of most of Burlington County stretching from Washington Township north to Bordentown. Following the 1990 Census, the district expanded out of Burlington County to Camden County ( Winslow Township, Waterford Township, and Chesilhurst) and Atlantic County (Hammonton and

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) with the Burlington County portion including suburban townships of Medford, Evesham, Moorestown, Mount Laurel, and Southampton. The 2001 redistricting returned the district to being Burlington only again keeping it through the center of the county.

Election history

Election results, 1973–present

Senate

General Assembly

Election results, 1965–1973

Senate

General Assembly

References

{{NewJerseyLegislatureDistricts Atlantic County, New Jersey Burlington County, New Jersey Camden County, New Jersey 08