New Jersey's 6th 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 ...

, covering the Burlington County municipality of Maple Shade Township and the Camden County municipalities of Audubon Park Borough, Berlin Borough, Berlin Township, Clementon, Cherry Hill Township, Gibbsboro Borough, Haddon Township, Haddonfield Borough, Hi-Nella Borough, Laurel Springs, Lawnside, Lindenwold,

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

, Oaklyn Borough, Pine Hill Borough, Somerdale Borough, Stratford Borough, Tavistock Borough and Voorhees Township.Districts by Number

. Accessed January 26, 2014.

Demographic characteristics

As of the 2020 United States census, the district had a population of 234,108, of whom 184,707 (78.9%) were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 150,824 (64.4%)

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 ...

, 25,121 (10.7%)

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 ...

, 896 (0.4%) Native American, 24,176 (10.3%) Asian, 103 (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 ...

, 14,822 (6.3%) from some other race, and 18,166 (7.8%) 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 31,071 (13.3%) of the population. The district had 186,310 registered voters as of December 1, 2021, of whom 63,956 (34.3%) were registered as unaffiliated, 87,315 (46.9%) were registered as Democrats, 32,986 (17.7%) 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 ...

, and 2,053 (1.1%) were registered to other parties.Statewide Voter Registration Summary

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 ...

, December 1, 2021. Accessed January 3, 2022.

Political representation

The legislative district is entirely located within

New Jersey's 1st congressional district New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

1965–1973

The 1964

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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 as equal as possible. As an interim measure, the 6th district in the 1965 State Senate election encompassed all of Mercer County and elected one person to the Senate. In this case, incumbent Democratic Mercer County Senator

Sido L. Ridolfi Sido Louis Ridolfi (September 28, 1913 – May 9, 2004) was an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 1954 to 1972, serving as Senate President in 1967. Early life Ridolfi was born in 1913 in Trenton ...

was elected for a two-year term beginning in 1966. For the three terms between 1967 and 1973, the sixth Senate district was split into two Assembly districts. For the 1967 election, since the Sixth only encompassed one county, two senators were elected at-large; in this case, Democrats Ridolfi and Richard J. Coffee were elected for this four-year term. In the 1971 election, with the addition of

Hunterdon County Hunterdon County is a County (United States), county located in the western section of the U.S. state of New Jersey. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county was the state's List of counties in New Jersey, 4th-least populous ...

into the Sixth, Senate candidates were nominated by Assembly district (see below) and one senator was elected from each district. Republican William E. Schluter was elected from District 6A and Democrat

Joseph P. Merlino Joseph P. Merlino (July 12, 1922 – October 7, 1998) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as President of the New Jersey Senate from 1978 to 1981. Background Merlino was born in 1922 in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of ...

was elected from District 6B in the 1971 election. Two Assembly members were elected from each district in 1967, 1969, and 1971. Assembly District 6B was made up of Trenton and Ewing Township while District 6A was composed of the remainder of Mercer County for the 1967 and 1969 elections. In the 1971 election, District 6B was composed of Trenton, Hamilton Township, and Washington Township with District 6A encompassing the remainder of Mercer and the entirety of Hunterdon County. The members elected to the Assembly from each district are as follows:

District composition since 1973

Upon the creation of 40 equal-population districts in 1973, the 6th district became based around the eastern suburbs of Camden inclusive of

Cherry Hill Cherry Hill often refers to: * Cherry Hill, New Jersey, a township in Camden County, New Jersey * Cherry Hill, Prince William County, Virginia, a census-designated place Cherry Hill may also refer to: Places Canada * Cherry Hill, Nova Scotia, a ...

in all iterations. The 1970s district stretched from Berlin borough north to Pennsauken and included Burlington County's Evesham Township and

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

. The 1981 redistricting made the 6th solely Camden County-based by heading from Pine Hill east then north to Merchantville, and the cluster of boroughs around Collingswood, Haddonfield, and Haddon Heights. The 1991 redistricting kept the 6th relatively unchanged. The 2001 redistricting removed some of the small boroughs in the Haddon Heights and Barrington vicinity but brought the district to the southern edge of Camden County to include Winslow Township, Chesilhurst, and Waterford Township. Following the 2011 redistricting, the southern Camden County municipalities were eliminated from the 6th and restored some of the immediate Camden suburbs including Collingswood and Pennsauken and expanded the district into Burlington County for the first time since 1982 by including Maple Shade.

Election history

Election results, 1973–present

Senate

General Assembly

Election results, 1965–1973

Senate

District 6 at-large

District 6A

District 6B

General Assembly

District 6A

District 6B

References

{{NewJerseyLegislatureDistricts Burlington County, New Jersey Camden County, New Jersey 06