New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

's 26th legislative district is one of 40 in the

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 district includes the Morris County municipalities of

Boonton Boonton () is a town in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 8,815, an increase of 468 (+5.6%) from the 2010 census count of 8,347, which in turn reflected a decline o ...

, Denville, East Hanover, Florham Park,

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

Lincoln Park Lincoln Park is a park along Lake Michigan on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. Named after US president Abraham Lincoln, it is the city's largest public park and stretches for from Grand Avenue (500 N), on the south, to near Ardmore Avenu ...

, Montville, Morris Plains,

Mountain Lakes A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

, Pequannock, Parsippany-Troy Hills, and Riverdale; and the

Passaic County Passaic County ( or ) is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the county was the state's eighth-most-populous county,

municipalities of Bloomingdale, Pompton Lakes, Ringwood, and Wanaque.

Demographic characteristics

As of the 2020 United States census, the district had a population of 224,584, of whom 179,363 (79.9%) were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 159,789 (71.1%)

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 ...

, 5,396 (2.4%)

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 ...

, 494 (0.2%) Native American, 33,908 (15.1%) Asian, 49 (0.0%)

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 ...

, 7,733 (3.4%) from some other race, and 17,215 (7.7%) 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 people of any race were 23,197 (10.3%) of the population. The 26th district had 178,951 registered voters as of February 1, 2025 of whom 63,088 (35.3%) were registered as unaffiliated, 63,736 (35.6%) 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 ...

, 50,389 (28.1%) were registered as Democrats, and 1,738 (1.0%) were registered to other parties. The Asian population was above the state average, while there were relatively few African American and Hispanic residents in the district. The percentage of children receiving

Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF ) is a federal assistance program of the United States. It began on July 1, 1997, and succeeded the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, providing cash assistance to indigent Ame ...

was the fourth lowest of any district and the percentage of the population age 65 and over was eighth highest. The district had one of the lowest percentages in the state of registered Democrats, with Republicans outnumbering Democrats by a more than 2–1 margin.

Political representation

The legislative district is located within

New Jersey's 11th congressional district New Jersey's 11th congressional district is a suburban district in northern New Jersey. The district includes portions of Essex, Morris, and Passaic Counties. It is centered in Morris County. The 11th congressional district, along with the 12 ...

and

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 26th district, when it was created in 1973, along with the 40-district legislative map, was based in the urban area around

The Oranges The Oranges () are a group of four municipality, municipalities in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, New Jersey, all of which have the word ''Orange'' in their name. The four municipalities are Orange, New Jersey, Orange, East Orange, New ...

, specifically West Orange,

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

East Orange East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 69,612, an increase of 5,342 (+8.3%) from the 2010 United States ...

, and a small sliver of the North Ward of Newark. In the 1981 redistricting, the district moved out of Essex County and was routed along the eastern border of Morris County from Chatham Township to Kinnelon including Parsippany-Troy Hills and Morris Plains and northern Passaic County's West Milford and Ringwood. Following the 1991 redistricting, Chatham Township was removed but

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

and

were added in Morris County; in Passaic County, however, West Milford and Ringwood were shifted to the 40th district, Bloomingdale and Pompton Lakes instead made up the Passaic portion of the district during this decade. West Caldwell,

Caldwell Caldwell may refer to: People * Caldwell (surname) * Caldwell (given name) * Caldwell First Nation, a federally recognized First Nation in southern Ontario, Canada Places Great Britain * Caldwell, Derbyshire, a hamlet * Caldwell, Ea ...

, and Fairfield Township in Essex Count were now included within the district. Changes to the district made in the 2001 legislative apportionment based on the results of the 2000 United States census added Hanover Township (from the 25th district) and West Milford Township (from the 40th district) and removed Madison Borough (to the 21st district), Mountain Lakes (to the 25th district) and Fairfield Township and West Caldwell Township (to the 27th district). Changes to the district made as part of the 2011 apportionment include the addition of Fairfield Township (from the 27th district), Jefferson Township (from the 25th district), North Caldwell Borough (from the 27th district), Rockaway Township (from the 25th district), Verona Township (from the 40th district) and West Caldwell Township (from the 27th district). The 2011 apportionment removed Bloomingdale (to the 39th district), Chatham Borough (to the 21st district), East Hanover, Florham Park, and Hanover Township (to the 27th district), Pequannock Township, Pompton Lakes Borough, and Riverdale (to the 40th district). In the 1977 Democratic primary for the Senate seat, incumbent Frank J. Dodd faced opposition from Assemblyman Eldridge Hawkins and tennis star

Althea Gibson Althea Neale Gibson (August 25, 1927September 28, 2003) was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African America ...

, who was serving as state Athletic Commissioner. Dodd was supported by the Essex County Democratic organization under County Chairman Harry Lerner. With Gibson and Hawkins splitting the anti-organization vote, Dodd won the nomination and the subsequent general election. In 1983, Leanna Brown challenged her former running mate, James P. Vreeland, for the Republican nomination for State Senate in the Republican primary in what the ''

Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', a daily newspaper in Philadelphia. The ''Dail ...

'' described as a "stunning upset" and was elected to the State Senate, becoming the first woman from the Republican Party to serve in the upper house of the State Legislature. In 1993, Brown resigned from the Senate after she was appointed to the

New Jersey Casino Control Commission The Casino Control Commission is a New Jersey state governmental agency that was founded in 1977 as the state's Gaming Control Board, responsible under the Casino Control Act for licensing casinos in Atlantic City. The commission also issues lic ...

, initially to serve out the unexpired term of Charles J. Irwin. Assemblymember Robert Martin was chosen to fill Brown's vacancy in the Senate. In December 1988,

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 ...

nominated Ralph A. Loveys to succeed Joseph A. Sullivan as the chairman of the

New Jersey Turnpike Authority The New Jersey Turnpike Authority (NJTA) is a state agency responsible for maintaining the New Jersey Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway, which are two toll roads in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The agency is headquartered in Woodbridge Town ...

. In January 1989,

Alex DeCroce Alex DeCroce (June 10, 1936 – January 9, 2012) was an American Republican Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 26th Legislative District from 1989 until his death. He was the Assembly's Repu ...

, a member of the Morris County

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the ...

, was named to fill Loveys' vacant seat in the General Assembly.

Carol J. Murphy Carol J. Murphy (December 25, 1932 – December 14, 2011) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician who served four full terms in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1993 to 2002, where she represented the ...

was nominated in February 2001 to serve on the

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) is a regulatory authority in New Jersey "with authority to oversee the regulated utilities, which in turn provide critical services such as natural gas, electricity, water, telecommunications and c ...

by acting

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 ...

Donald DiFrancesco Donald Thomas DiFrancesco (born November 20, 1944) is a retired American politician who served as the 51st governor of New Jersey from 2001 to 2002. He succeeded Christine Todd Whitman after her resignation to become Administrator of the Enviro ...

. In February 2001, a special convention of district Republicans chose Joseph Pennacchio to fill the General Assembly seat vacated by Murphy.

died on January 9, 2012, after collapsing in a bathroom inside the Statehouse, just moments after the 214th Legislature held its final voting session. On January 25, 2012, his widow, BettyLou DeCroce, was selected by the Morris County Republican Committee to replace him in the Assembly until a November 2012 special election was held. She won the special election and subsequent general elections running with

Jay Webber James K. "Jay" Webber (born February 29, 1972) is an American lawyer and Republican politician, who has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since January 8, 2008, where he represents the 26th legislative district. Webber has served in th ...

. On June 8, 2021, DeCroce lost her reelection bid to former Pompton Lakes councilman Christian Barranco. Following the 2021 reapportionment, new municipalities comprised 58% of the reconfigured district. Barranco, who since moved to Jefferson Township, ran for reelection in the 25th district and incumbent 25th district Assemblyman Brian Bergen (a resident of Denville) ran successfully for reelection in the 26th in 2023.

Election history

Election results

Senate

General Assembly

References

{{NewJerseyLegislatureDistricts Essex County, New Jersey Morris County, New Jersey Passaic County, New Jersey 26