A general election was held in the U.S. state of New Jersey on November 8, 2011. Primary elections were held on June 7. The only state positions up in this election cycle were all 80 seats in the New Jersey General Assembly and all 40 seats in the Senate. In addition to the State Legislative elections, numerous county offices and freeholders in addition to municipal offices were up for election. There was one statewide ballot question, in which voters approved legislation to legalize gambling. Some counties and municipalities may have had local ballot questions. Non-partisan local elections, some school board elections, and some fire district elections also happened throughout the year.
See main article: 2011 New Jersey Senate election.
| Election Name: | 2011 New Jersey Senate elections |
| Popular Vote2: | 645,569 |
| Percentage2: | 48.7% |
| Leader2: | Tom Kean Jr. |
| Leaders Seat2: | 21st |
| Last Election2: | 17 |
| Seats Before2: | 16 |
| Seats2: | 16 |
| Before Election: | Steve Sweeney |
| Seats1: | 24 |
| Senate President | |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Steve Sweeney |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Seats Before1: | 24 |
| Next Election: | 2013 New Jersey State Senate election |
| Election Date: | November 4, 2011 |
| Seats For Election: | All 40 seats in the New Jersey State Senate |
| Majority Seats: | 21 |
| Previous Year: | 2007 |
| Previous Election: | 2007 New Jersey State Senate election |
| Next Year: | 2013 |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Last Election1: | 23 |
| Type: | legislative |
| Country: | New Jersey |
| Image1: | File:Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney (cropped).jpg |
| Leader1: | Steve Sweeney |
| Leaders Seat1: | 3rd |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Popular Vote1: | 677,435 |
| Percentage1: | 51.1% |
| Map Size: | x300px |
The 2011 New Jersey State Senate elections were held on November 4. The election took place midway through Chris Christie's first term as Governor of New Jersey. No seats changed hands, though Democrats had gained one seat in a 2010 special election with Linda Greenstein's victory over Tom Goodwin.
This was the first election under maps drawn after the 2010 census. Three incumbents retired from the Senate including Sean Kean, who was redistricted into Jennifer Beck's district and ran for Assembly rather than challenge her.
See main article: 2011 New Jersey General Assembly election.
| Election Name: | New Jersey General Assembly Elections, 2011 |
| Country: | New Jersey |
| Type: | legislative |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 2009 New Jersey General Assembly election |
| Previous Year: | 2009 |
| Next Election: | 2013 New Jersey General Assembly election |
| Next Year: | 2013 |
| Seats For Election: | All 80 seats in the New Jersey General Assembly |
| Majority Seats: | 41 |
| Election Date: | November 8, 2011 |
| Leader1: | Sheila Oliver |
| Swing1: | 3.6% |
| Party1: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| Leader Since1: | January 12, 2010 |
| Leaders Seat1: | 34th (East Orange) |
| Last Election1: | 47 |
| Seats1: | 48 |
| Seat Change1: | 1 |
| Popular Vote1: | 1,339,201 |
| Percentage1: | 51.2% |
| Leader2: | Alex DeCroce |
| Swing2: | 3.9% |
| Party2: | Republican Party (United States) |
| Leader Since2: | January 12, 2004 |
| Leaders Seat2: | 26th (Parisippany-Troy Hills) |
| Last Election2: | 33 |
| Seats2: | 32 |
| Seat Change2: | 1 |
| Popular Vote2: | 1,253,824 |
| Percentage2: | 48.0% |
| Map Size: | 400px |
| Speaker | |
| Before Election: | Sheila Oliver |
| Before Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
| After Election: | Sheila Oliver |
| After Party: | Democratic Party (United States) |
All 80 seats in the General Assembly were up for election this year. In each Legislative district, there are two people elected; the top two winners in the general election are the ones sent to the Assembly. Typically, the two members of each party run as a team in each election. After the previous election, Democrats captured 47 seats while the Republicans won 33 seats. These were the first elections to be held after the 2010 redistricting cycle.
Democrats gained one seat, by flipping a seat in the 4th district, which they had only lost two years prior.
Summary of the November 8, 2011 New Jersey General Assembly election results:
| 48 | 32 | |
| Democratic | Republican |
| Parties | Candidates | Seats | Popular Vote | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center | 2009 | align=center | 2011 | align=center | +/- | align=center | Strength | align=center | Vote | align=center | % | align=center | Change | |||||
| Democratic | align=right | 80 | align=right | 47 | align=right | 48 | align=right | 1 | align=right | 60% | align=right | 1,339,201 | align=right | 51.2% | align=right | 0.0% | ||
| Republican | align=right | 79 | align=right | 33 | align=right | 32 | align=right | 1 | align=right | 40% | align=right | 1,253,824 | align=right | 48.0% | align=right | 0.0% | ||
| Green | align=right | 2 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | align=right | 0% | align=right | 2,284 | align=right | 0.1% | align=right | 0.0% | |||
| Libertarian | align=right | 4 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | align=right | 0% | align=right | 3,692 | align=right | 0.1% | align=right | 0.0% | |||
| Independent | align=right | 10 | align=right | 0 | align=right | 0 | align=right | align=right | 0% | align=right | 15,310 | align=right | 0.6% | align=right | 0.0% | |||
| align=center colspan="2" | Total | align=center | 176 | align=center | 80 | align=center | 80 | align=center | 0 | align=center | 100.0% | align=center | 2,614,311 | align=center | 100.0% | align=center | - |
One statewide question was on the ballot. It was approved by voters:
| Choice | Votes | % |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 671,797 | 63.9% |
| No | 379,339 | 36.1% |
| Total votes | 1,051,136 | 100% |