A general election was held in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

on November 3, 2015.

Primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

s were held on June 2. The only state positions up in this election cycle were all 80 seats in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

and one

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

in the 5th Legislative District. In addition to the State Legislative elections, numerous

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

offices and freeholders in addition to

municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the gov ...

offices were up for election. There were no statewide ballot questions this year though some counties and municipalities may have had a local question asked. Non-partisan local elections, some school board elections, and some fire district elections also happened throughout the year.

State Legislature

The entire Senate is up in years ending in 1, 3, and 7; as there is no gubernatorial election coinciding with the years ending in 5 or 9 in this decade, the General Assembly races are the highest races listed on ballots for the first time since 1999. A very low turnout was expected due to the lack of

Presidential Presidential may refer to: * "Presidential" (song), a 2005 song by YoungBloodZ * Presidential Airways (charter), an American charter airline based in Florida * Presidential Airways (scheduled), an American passenger airline active in the 1980s * ...

Congressional 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 ad ...

, or

gubernatorial A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

elections on the ballot this year. The predictions turned out to be true as the 22% turnout was the lowest percentage recorded in recent state history.

Senate

One special election was held in the 5th Legislative District to fill the remaining term of

Donald Norcross Donald W. Norcross (born December 13, 1958) is an American politician and labor leader who is the U.S. representative for in South Jersey. A member of the Democratic Party, Norcross was first elected to this congressional seat in 2014, followi ...

, who resigned in November 2014 following his election to Congress. In December 2014, 5th District Democrats appointed former Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Perez to the seat. Cruz-Perez was unopposed in the Democratic primary and faced no challengers in the special election. The Democratic Party holds a majority of seats in the Senate with 24 seats; the Republican Party holds 16 seats. The results of this election did not affect the standings of either party in the upper house.

General Assembly

All 80 seats in the General Assembly were up for election this year. In each

Legislative district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

, there are two people elected; the top two winners in the general election are the ones sent to the Assembly. Typically, the two members of each party run as a team in each election. After the previous election, Democrats captured 48 seats while the Republicans won 32 seats. At the time of the general election, there were two vacancies: One in the 5th District resulting from Democrat Angel Fuentes's resignation on June 30, 2015, and one in the 24th District resulting from Republican

Alison Littell McHose Alison Elizabeth Littell McHose (born May 24, 1965) is an American Republican Party politician, who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2003 to 2015, where she represented the 24th Legislative District. Early life and education M ...

's resignation on October 17, 2015. Ultimately four Democrats defeated four incumbent Republicans leading to the Democrats controlling 52 of 80 seats in the 2016–17 Assembly session, the highest percentage they held since 1979. Democrats flipped both seats in the 11th district, and one each in the 16th and the 1st.

Overall results

Summary of the November 3, 2015 New Jersey General Assembly election results:

References

External links

New Jersey Department of State - Division of Elections 2015 Election InformationNew Jersey elections, 2015
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