Record Number of Women Win Primary Races for New Jersey State Assembly Seats

This year, a record 59 women (38D; 21R) will compete in the general election in November for seats in the New Jersey State Assembly, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. In the 2019 election cycle, 63 women (41D; 22R) filed as primary candidates for state Assembly seats. The New Jersey State Senate does not have elections in this cycle.

Of the 59 women who will be on the ballot in November, 25 (20D; 5R) are incumbents, 27 (12D; 15R) are running as challengers, and 7 (6D; 1R) are running for open seats.

The previous record for women general election candidates for the New Jersey State Assembly was 53, set in 2017. The record for the state Senate, also set in 2017, is 25; that record will next be challenged in 2021.

Currently, 37 women serve in the New Jersey State Legislature, comprising 30.8% of members. In the Senate, women hold 10 seats, or 25% of the total number of senators, and in the Assembly, women hold 27 seats, or 33.8% of the total. New Jersey ranks 19th among the 50 states with regards to women’s representation in its state legislature, dropping six spots from its previous position after a remarkable year for women in state legislative races around the country in 2018.

Learn more about women’s political representation in New Jersey at its state fact sheet on the CAWP website. Information about women in state legislatures nationally can be found at our Women in State Legislatures 2019 fact sheet.

NOTE: Among Republicans, Jean Stanfield is counted as a challenger in the filed numbers, but, because she won her primary and beat an incumbent, she is counted as running for an open seat in the winners numbers. The only Republican woman who ran for an open seat in the primary lost their contest.