New Jersey's 3rd legislative district is one of 40 in the state. As of the 2011 apportionment the district covers the

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Cumberland, historic county *Cumberlan ...

municipalities of Bridgeton, Deerfield Township and Upper Deerfield Township; the Gloucester County municipalities of Clayton, East Greenwich Township, Elk Township, Franklin Township,

Glassboro Glassboro is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Gloucester County, New Jersey, Gloucester County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the borough's population was 18,579, ...

, Greenwich Township, Logan Township,

National Park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

, Newfield, Paulsboro, South Harrison Township, Swedesboro, West Deptford Township, Woodbury Heights and Woolwich Township; and all

Salem County Salem County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its western boundary is formed by the Delaware River and its eastern terminus is the Delaware Memorial Bridge, which connects the county with New Castle, Delaware. Its cou ...

municipalities, including Alloway Township, Carneys Point Township,

Elmer Elmer is a name of Germanic British origin. The given name originated as a surname, a medieval variant of the given name Aylmer, derived from Old English ''æþel'' (noble) and ''mær'' (famous). It was adopted as a given name in the United State ...

, Elsinboro Township, Lower Alloways Creek Township, Mannington Township, Oldmans Township, Penns Grove, Pennsville Township, Pilesgrove Township, Pittsgrove Township, Quinton Township, Salem, Upper Pittsgrove Township and

Woodstown Woodstown ( ga, Baile na Coille, IPA: �bˠalʲəˈnˠaˈkɛl̪ʲə is home to a historic settlement measuring 1.5 km by 0.5 km, located on the southern bank of the River Suir, about 5.5 km west of Waterford City in the southeast ...

Demographic characteristics

As of the

2020 United States census The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, the district had a population of 233,238, of whom 180,926 (77.6%) were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 155,956 (66.9%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 33,610 (14.4%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 1,819 (0.8%) Native American, 4,611 (2.0%)

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 57 (0.0%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, 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 the original p ...

, 19,499 (8.4%) from some other race, and 17,686 (7.6%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 34,897 (15.0%) of the population. The district had 159,457 registered voters as of December 1, 2021, of whom 58,474 (36.7%) were registered as unaffiliated, 57,390 (36.0%) were registered as Democrats, 41,186 (25.8%) were registered as Republicans, and 2,407 (1.5%) were registered to other parties.

Political representation

For the 2022–2023 session, the district is represented in the

State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

Edward Durr Edward Durr Jr. (born July 18, 1963) is an American politician and truck driver who has served in the New Jersey Senate since 2022, representing the 3rd Legislative district. A member of the Republican Party, Durr won his first election in 2021 ...

( R, Logan Township) and in the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

Bethanne McCarthy-Patrick Bethanne McCarthy Patrick (born April 20, 1970) is an American Republican Party politician who has represented the 3rd Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since she took office on January 11, 2022. McCarthy Patrick is an em ...

(R, Mannington Township) and Beth Sawyer (R, Woolwich Township).Legislative Roster for District 3

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 ...

. Accessed January 11, 2022. The legislative district overlaps with New Jersey's 1st and 2nd congressional districts.

1965–1973

The 1964

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. 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 electoral districts of state legislative chambers must be roughly equal in population. Along with '' Baker v. Carr'' (19 ...

'' required legislative districts' populations be equal as possible. As an interim measure, the 3rd District in the 1965 State Senate election encompassed all of Camden County and elected two members to the Senate. In this case, Republican Frederick Scholz and Democrat A. Donald Bigley were sent to Trenton for a two-year term beginning in 1966. For the next three elections, the 3rd District became made up of all of Camden, Gloucester, and Salem counties and was further divided into four Assembly districts (Districts 3A, 3B, 3C, and 3D). In the 1967 and 1971 Senate elections, a total of four Senators were elected from the district but candidates were nominated by Assembly district and were elected by only the residents of the respective district. Each Assembly district elected two members in each election. The members elected to the Senate from each district are as follows: The members elected to the Assembly from each district are as follows:

District composition since 1973

Starting in 1973 with the creation of 40 equal-population districts statewide, the 3rd District was made up of all of Salem County and most of Gloucester County. Some southeastern Gloucester County municipalities were removed from the District in the 1981 redistricting but several sparsely-populated Cumberland County townships along the

Delaware Bay Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean. The bay is bordered inlan ...

were added. The Cumberland County city of Bridgeton and some adjacent townships were added in the 1991 redistricting but the boroughs of

Pitman Pitman may refer to: * A coal miner, particularly in Northern England * Pitman (surname) * Pitman, New Jersey, United States * Pitman, Pennsylvania, United States * Pitman, Saskatchewan, Canada * Pitman Shorthand, a system of shorthand * Pitman ar ...

and Glassboro were moved out. The only changes made during the 2001 redistricting were the removal of

Woodbury Woodbury may refer to: Geography Antarctica *Woodbury Glacier, a glacier on Graham Land, British Antarctic Territory Australia * Woodbury, Tasmania, a locality in Australia England * Woodbury, Bournemouth, an area in Dorset *Woodbury, East Devo ...

and the addition of Elk Township and Clayton borough. The 2011 apportionment added Franklin Township (from 4th District), Glassboro (4th), Newfield (4th) and Woodbury Heights ( 5th). Municipalities that had been in the 3rd District as part of the 2001 apportionment that were shifted out of the district are Commercial Township, Downe Township, Fairfield Township, Greenwich Township, Hopewell Township, Lawrence Township, Shiloh and Stow Creek Township (all to the 1st District); and Harrison Township, Mantua Township and Wenonah (all to the 5th District).Districts by Number

, backed up by the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

as of November 12, 2011. Accessed April 11, 2013.

Election history

Election results, 1973–present

Senate

General Assembly

Election results, 1965–1973

Senate

District 3 At-large

District 3A

District 3B

District 3C

District 3D

General Assembly

District 3A

District 3B

District 3C

District 3D

References

{{NewJerseyLegislatureDistricts Cumberland County, New Jersey Gloucester County, New Jersey Salem County, New Jersey 03