With Departures and Losses, Women’s Representation in New Jersey Could Decline

Primary elections were held yesterday in New Jersey, and the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, is tracking results for women candidates in these races. Full results are available on the Election Analysis page on the CAWP website; one race featuring a woman candidate remains too close to call, so this post will update as results are finalized. Complete context about women in the 2023 elections, including candidate lists, summaries, and historical comparisons, is available via CAWP's Election Watch.

Among the most notable results for women:

• Women are 23 of 75 (30.7%) major-party nominees selected for state Senate in New Jersey, including 15 of 40 (37.5%) Democrats and 8 of 35 (22.9%) Republicans. This is not a record high.
• Women are 61 of 148 (41.2%) major-party nominees already selected for state Assembly in New Jersey, including 37 of 78 (47.4%) Democrats and 24 of 70 (34.3%) Republicans. One (1R) woman candidate remains in a contest too close to call in the 24th Assembly District. This will not be a record high.
• 29 (19D, 10R) of 42 (28D, 14R) current women state legislators are nominees for re-election, and another 2 (2D) current assemblywomen are nominees for the state Senate, in November 2023.
  • Nine women incumbents – representing 21.4% of the current women legislators – did not run for re-election. This is a record high for the number of women incumbents leaving the New Jersey State Legislature in a single cycle, both by raw number and as a proportion of total representation.
  • In addition to the women not running for re-election, at least 2 (1D, 1R) more women incumbents will not return to the legislature in 2024: State Senator Nia Gill (D), who lost her bid for re-election against another incumbent following redistricting, and Assemblywoman Beth Sawyer (R), who lost a bid for the state Senate. Senator Gill is the longest-serving Black woman in the history of the New Jersey Legislature.

For more information, see the full analysis of how women fared in yesterday's contests on our Election Analysis page. Complete context about women in the 2023 elections can be found on CAWP's Election Watch.