[Updated 4.2.19] Record Number of Women Serving as County Freeholders - CAWP's New Jersey County Report Card

Updated on 4.2.19 to reflect the inclusion of an additional freeholder in Camden County named to fill a vacancy.

The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, has released today the first part of its New Jersey County Report Card, tracking women county freeholders and mayors around the state. For the first time in history, 44 women serve as county freeholders in New Jersey, an increase of 5 over the previous year, making up 33% of all freeholders in the state. In addition, 14 women of color serve as freeholders, 10% of the total number of freeholders, including 7 Black women, 5 Latinas, and 2 Asian Pacific Islander women. Around the state, 86 women serve as mayors, increasing from 80, but still comprising only 15% of all New Jersey mayors.

In the tables below, CAWP has compiled the numbers of women freeholders and mayors by county, and provides a county ranking based on the proportion of women serving in these positions. The top three counties for women’s representation on freeholder boards are Somerset (60%), Bergen (57%), and Union (56%), where women hold a majority of the available positions. By contrast, both Salem and Warren counties have zero women serving as freeholders. Union (38%), Mercer (33%), and Hunterdon (27%) counties have the highest proportion of women serving as mayors. The bottom seven counties in our mayoral rankings see women holding less than 10% of those offices, and Hudson County has zero women among its 12 mayors.

 “Much attention has been paid recently to the record numbers of women running for office nationally, but this report makes it clear that there is much work to be done to recruit and encourage women to run for local office here in the Garden State,” noted CAWP associate director Jean Sinzdak. “We urge New Jersey women to throw their hats in the ring, and we ask our county party leaders on both sides of the aisle to use their influence to recruit women to run.”

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 15-16, 2019 in New Brunswick. “Ready to Run® gives women essential tools to prepare for their political future and make a difference in their communities.”

Information and registration is available on the CAWP website.

Part two of our New Jersey County Report Card will be released in the coming months, and will be comprised of data on city council members throughout the state, as well as an overall county ranking compiled from the freeholder, mayor, and council member rankings. Stay tuned.