New Jersey's 9th 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

Ocean County Ocean County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the southernmost county in the New York metropolitan area. The county borders the Atlantic Ocean on the east and in terms of total area is the state's largest county. Its co ...

municipalities of Barnegat Township, Barnegat Light Borough, Beach Haven Borough, Beachwood Borough, Berkeley Township, Eagleswood Township, Harvey Cedars Borough, Lacey Township,

Lakehurst, New Jersey Lakehurst is a borough in Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 2,636, a decrease of 18 (−0.7%) from the 2010 census count of 2,654, which in turn reflected an increa ...

, Little Egg Harbor Township, Long Beach Township,

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, Ocean Township, Ocean Gate Borough, Pine Beach Borough, Ship Bottom Borough, Stafford Township, Surf City Borough and Tuckerton Borough.

Demographic characteristics

As of the 2020 United States census, the district had a population of 235,539, of whom 194,652 (82.6%) were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 195,976 (83.2%)

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, 9,031 (3.8%)

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 ...

, 564 (0.2%) Native American, 6,500 (2.8%) Asian, 71 (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 ...

, 7,247 (3.1%) from some other race, and 16,150 (6.9%) 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 21,473 (9.1%) of the population. The district had 193,047 registered voters as of December 1, 2021, of whom 73,377 (38.0%) were registered as unaffiliated, 70,287 (36.4%) 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 ...

, 46,730 (24.2%) were registered as Democrats, and 2,653 (1.4%) 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 2, 2022.

Political representation

The legislative district overlaps with New Jersey's 2nd and New Jersey's 4th congressional districts.

1965–1973

During the period of time after 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 ...

'' and before the establishment of a 40-district legislature in 1973, the 9th district encompassed the entirety of Union County. Two Senators were elected in the 1965 election (Republican

Nelson Stamler Nelson Frank Stamler (May 4, 1909 – April 11, 1972) was an American Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician, prosecutor and judge. He won considerable fame in the 1950s as a racket-busting Deputy state Attorney General who ...

and Democrat Mildred Barry Hughes) while three were elected in the 1967 and 1971 elections. Republicans Nicholas S. LaCorte,

Frank X. McDermott Francis "Frank" X. McDermott (October 15, 1924 – December 15, 2011) was an American Republican Party politician who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature. Biography McDermott was born in New York City in 1924. He received a Bac ...

, and

Matthew John Rinaldo Matthew John "Matt" Rinaldo (September 1, 1931 – October 13, 2008) was an American Republican Party politician who represented New Jersey in the United States House of Representatives for ten terms, serving in the 12th congressional district ...

won the 1967 election though LaCorte would resign on December 7, 1970 to become a tax appeals judge. Democrat Jerry Fitzgerald English would win a 1971 special election to complete LaCorte's term. Republicans would win the three seats in the regular 1971 election with Rinaldo, McDermott, and

Jerome Epstein Jerome Epstein may refer to: * Jerome Epstein (politician) * Jerome Epstein (director) Jerome Leonard Epstein (January 17, 1922 – November 16, 1991) was an American director, screenwriter and producer known for his nearly 30-year professional c ...

receiving the most votes in that election. Following Rinaldo's election to

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

in 1972 elections, Democrat William J. McCloud would be elected to complete Rinaldo's term in the Senate. In the Assembly, for the 1967, 1969, and 1971 elections, Union County was divided into three districts (9A, 9B, and 9C) that each elected two members of the Assembly. In addition, in the 1967 and 1969 elections, one additional member of the Assembly was elected county-wide. The members elected to the Assembly from each district are as follows:

District composition since 1973

Since the creation of 40 equal-population districts statewide in 1973, the 9th district has been based in and around Ocean County. For the 1973 district, the 9th consisted of most of Ocean County (all municipalities except Little Egg Harbor Township, Tuckerton, Manchester Township, Lakehurst, Point Pleasant, and Point Pleasant Beach), Woodland Township in Burlington County, and Millstone Township in

Monmouth County Monmouth County () is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is bordered to its west by Mercer and Middlesex Counties, to its south by Ocean County, to its east by the Atlantic Ocean, and to its north by ...

. In the 1981 redistricting, the large townships of Lakewood,

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, and

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and other nearby small boroughs were removed but the remainder of Ocean County municipalities were added as well as Bass River Township and Burlington County's New Hanover Township, Wrightstown, and North Hanover. Jackson Township and Plumsted Township and the northern Burlington municipalities were shifted out of the 9th in the 1991 redistricting; more of southern Burlington was added including Tabernacle, Woodland, Washington, and Bass River townships and

Egg Harbor City Egg Harbor City is a city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The city, and all of Atlantic County, is part of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan statistical area, which in turn is included in the Philadelphia-Reading- ...

in Atlantic County were also added to the district for this decade. In the 2001 redistricting, the Ocean County portion of the district barely changed but only Washington and Bass River townships remained in Burlington County and the municipalities that made up the Atlantic County portion of the district were Hammonton and

Folsom Folsom may refer to: People * Folsom (surname) Places in the United States * Folsom, Perry County, Alabama * Folsom, Randolph County, Alabama * Folsom, California * Folsom, Georgia * Folsom, Louisiana * Folsom, Missouri * Folsom, New Jers ...

Election history

Election results, 1973–present

Senate

General Assembly

Election results, 1965–1973

Senate

General Assembly

District 9A

District 9B

District 9C

District 9 at-large

References

{{NewJerseyLegislatureDistricts Atlantic County, New Jersey Burlington County, New Jersey Ocean County, New Jersey 09