Report Card for Women Officeholders: Most Counties Need Improvement

Most New Jersey counties continue to draw poor to mediocre grades for their efforts to elect women as freeholders and mayors, but do somewhat better in electing women to local councils. Mercer County sits at the head of the class overall, while Warren County seems to need remedial work.

These are the findings of the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. CAWP compiled 2017 data on both numbers and percentages of women freeholders, mayors and council members in New Jersey’s 21 counties. (Detailed tables below.)

Six counties would receive honors marks for electing women freeholders (40 percent or better), while Warren County would flunk with zero. Electing women mayors seems to present an even greater challenge, with just two counties (Union and Mercer) at or exceeding 25 percent, and all but four counties below 20 percent.  Only one county, Mercer, can boast having more than a third of its city or town council seats filled by women (41%). A total of eight counties have over a quarter of women on councils, while Atlantic County ranks lowest with just 13% of their councils comprised of women.

Bergen County, with more than half of its freeholders (57%) women, leads the way; Essex follows at 44%, trailed by Middlesex, Morris, Burlington and Monmouth, all at or above 40% women. Nine counties have only one woman among their freeholders, while Warren County has none.

The picture could change in 2018, since thirty-seven women (21D, 16R) are seeking freeholder posts in 2017, the first year in which CAWP has tracked candidates for county boards. They are 35.2 % of the total of 105 candidates seeking election as freeholders this year. The women include 12 incumbents (10D, 2R) as well as 11 candidates for open seats (7D, 4R).

A total of 62 freeholder seats are up for election this year, and women are running for all but 13 of those seats (three in Essex County, seven in Hudson County, two in Salem County and one in Sussex County). Morris County has only women running for its one available seat, while Salem and Sussex Counties have no women running. (Both Salem and Sussex Counties have one woman freeholder not up for election this year.)

At the mayoral level, Union County leads the way at 33% percent, followed by Mercer, Hunterdon and Sussex Counties, the only ones to break 20%. Seven counties have fewer than

10% women among their mayors, with Ocean County and Passaic counties the worst (6%) and Salem only marginally better (7%).  

“New Jersey has improved in recent years at the state legislative level, now with 30% women, and we’re consistently among the top 15 in the country for women’s representation,” noted CAWP associate director Jean Sinzdak. “But most of our counties have much more work to do to improve representation at the local level.  We call upon the powerful county party leaders to use their influence to create tickets that better reflect the people officeholders serve.”

Sinzdak invited Garden State women to learn more about running by attending Ready to Run^®, CAWP’s non-partisan campaign training for women, which will take place March 9-10, 2018 in New Brunswick. “More and more women are deciding that they can make a difference

on the issues that matter to them by running for office. Ready to Run^® gives them essential tools to prepare for their political future.”

Information and registration is available on the CAWP website.

Other resources on women in New Jersey politics:

CAWP Fact Sheet:  Women in New Jersey Government

Press release: 2017 Women candidates in NJ and VA

Deatailed Tables

Proportion of Women Freeholders by County - 2017
  Source: N.J. Association of Counties.

Proportion of Women Mayors by County - 2017
Source: N.J. League of Municipalities.

2017 Women Freeholder Candidates by County
   Source: Center for American Women and Politics

Proportion of Women Council Members by County
Source: Center for American Women and Politics