New Jersey's 5th 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 ...
. As of the
2011 apportionment, the district covers the
Camden County municipalities of
Audubon,
Barrington,
Bellmawr,
Brooklawn,
Camden,
Collingswood,
Gloucester City,
Haddon Heights,
Mount Ephraim,
Merchantville,
Pennsauken,
Runnemede and
Woodlynne; and the
Gloucester County municipalities of
Deptford Township,
Woodbury Heights, and
Woodbury.
Demographic characteristics
As of the
2020 United States census, the district had a population of 221,612, of whom 168,945 (76.2%) were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 119,934 (54.1%)
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 ...
, 45,434 (20.5%)
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 ...
, 1,208 (0.5%)
Native American, 6,686 (3.0%)
Asian, 87 (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 ...
, 29,335 (13.2%) from
some other race, and 18,928 (8.5%) 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 51,605 (23.0%) of the population.
The district had 163,507 registered voters as of December 1, 2021, of whom 59,177 (36.2%) were registered as
unaffiliated, 75,237 (46.0%) were registered as
Democrats, 26,512 (16.2%) were registered as
Republicans, and 2,581 (1.6%) were registered to other parties.
Political representation
The legislative district overlaps with
New Jersey's 1st congressional district.
1965–1973
The 1964
Supreme Court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
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 single-seat electoral districts of state legislative chambers must be roughly equal in population. Along with '' Bak ...
'' required legislative districts' populations be equal as possible. As an interim measure, the 5th district in the 1965 State Senate election encompassed all of
Ocean
The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...
and
Monmouth
Monmouth ( or ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Monmouthshire, Wales, situated on where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. The population in the 2011 census was 10,508, rising from 8 ...
counties which elected two members of the Senate
at-large
At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...
. Republicans
Richard R. Stout and
William T. Hiering won this election for a two-year term.
[ For the 1967 and 1971 elections, the 5th consisted of only Monmouth County and elected two and three Senators respectively.][ Republicans Stout and Alfred N. Beadleston won the 1967 election for a four-year term while Stout, Beadleston, and Republican Assemblyman Joseph Azzolina won in the 1971 election for a two-year term.][
Between 1967 and 1973, the 5th Senate district was split into two Assembly districts, each electing two members. As Monmouth County gained population following the 1970 census, an additional Assembly member was elected at-large for the 1971 election. The members elected to the Assembly from each district are as follows:][
]
District composition since 1973
Since the creation of the 40-district legislative map in 1973, the 5th district has always been based around the city of Camden and nearby suburbs. In the 1973 iteration of the map, the district began in Camden city and traveled southeast to Hi-Nella.[ In 1981, some Camden County boroughs and Haddon Township were removed but added to the district were Gloucester City, Bellmawr, and Runnemede in Camden County and Deptford Township and Woodbury Heights.][ No major changes were made to the district in the 1991 or ]2001
The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
reapportionments.[ The 2011 apportionment added Audubon Park (from the 6th district) and Harrison Township, Mantua Township and Wenonah (all from the 3rd district). Municipalities that had been in the 4th district as part of the 2001 apportionment that were shifted out of the district as of 2011 are Woodbury Heights (to the 3rd district), and Hi-Nella, Somerdale and Stratford (all to the 6th district).
The territory currently in the 5th has been in Democratic hands without interruption since 1973. Indeed, the 5th is one of the few districts in the state to have ever elected only one party to all Senate and Assembly seats in every election since 1973.]
Election history
Election results, 1973–present
Senate
General Assembly
Election results, 1965–1973
Senate
General Assembly
District 5A
District 5B
District 5 At-large
References
{{NewJerseyLegislatureDistricts
Camden County, New Jersey
Gloucester County, New Jersey
05