2015 New Jersey elections explained

A general election was held in the U.S. state of New Jersey on November 3, 2015. Primary elections were held on June 2. The only state positions up in this election cycle were all 80 seats in the New Jersey General Assembly and one Senate special election in the 5th Legislative District. In addition to the State Legislative elections, numerous county offices and freeholders in addition to municipal offices were up for election. There were no statewide ballot questions this year though some counties and municipalities may have had a local question asked. Non-partisan local elections, some school board elections, and some fire district elections also happened throughout the year.

State Legislature

The entire Senate is up in years ending in 1, 3, and 7; as there is no gubernatorial election coinciding with the years ending in 5 or 9 in this decade, the General Assembly races are the highest races listed on ballots for the first time since 1999. A very low turnout was expected due to the lack of Presidential, Congressional, or gubernatorial elections on the ballot this year.[1] The predictions turned out to be true as the 22% turnout was the lowest percentage recorded in recent state history.[2]

Senate

One special election was held in the 5th Legislative District to fill the remaining term of Donald Norcross, who resigned in November 2014 following his election to Congress. In December 2014, 5th District Democrats appointed former Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Perez to the seat.[3] Cruz-Perez was unopposed in the Democratic primary and faced no challengers in the special election.[4] The Democratic Party holds a majority of seats in the Senate with 24 seats; the Republican Party holds 16 seats. The results of this election did not affect the standings of either party in the upper house.

General Assembly

See main article: 2015 New Jersey General Assembly elections.

Election Name:New Jersey General Assembly Elections, 2015
Country:New Jersey
Type:legislative
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:New Jersey General Assembly Elections, 2013
Previous Year:2013
Next Election:2017 New Jersey General Assembly election
Next Year:2017
Seats For Election:All 80 seats in the New Jersey General Assembly
Majority Seats:41
Election Date:November 3, 2015
Leader1:Vincent Prieto
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Leader Since1:January 14, 2014
Leaders Seat1:32nd (Secaucus)
Last Election1:48
Seats1:52
Seat Change1: 4
Popular Vote1:1,111,320
Percentage1:53.3%
Leader2:Jon Bramnick
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Leader Since2:January 17, 2012
Leaders Seat2:21st (Westfield)
Last Election2:32
Seats2:28
Seat Change2: 4
Popular Vote2:958,085
Percentage2:45.9%
Map Size:400px
Speaker
Before Election:Vincent Prieto
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Vincent Prieto
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 48 seats while the Republicans won 32 seats. At the time of the general election, there were two vacancies: One in the 5th District resulting from Democrat Angel Fuentes's resignation on June 30, 2015, and one in the 24th District resulting from Republican Alison Littell McHose's resignation on October 17, 2015.

Ultimately four Democrats defeated four incumbent Republicans leading to the Democrats controlling 52 of 80 seats in the 2016–17 Assembly session, the highest percentage they held since 1979.[5] Democrats flipped both seats in the 11th district, and one each in the 16th and the 1st.

Overall results

Summary of the November 3, 2015 New Jersey General Assembly election results:

5228
DemocraticRepublican
PartiesCandidatesSeatsPopular Vote
align=center 2013align=center 2015align=center +/-align=center Strengthalign=center Votealign=center %align=center Change
Democraticalign=right 78align=right 48align=right 52align=right 4align=right 65%align=right 1,111,320align=right 53.3%align=right 0.0%
Republicanalign=right 79align=right 32align=right 28align=right 4align=right 35%align=right 958,085align=right 45.9%align=right 0.0%
Greenalign=right 8align=right 0align=right 0align=right align=right 0%align=right 8,643align=right 0.4%align=right 0.0%
Libertarianalign=right 2align=right 0align=right 0align=right align=right 0%align=right 1,180align=right 0.1%align=right 0.0%
Independentalign=right 8align=right 0align=right 0align=right align=right 0%align=right 6,891align=right 0.3%align=right 0.0%
align=center colspan="2" Totalalign=center 175align=center 80align=center 80align=center 0align=center 100.0%align=center 2,086,119align=center 100.0%align=center -

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Experts Predict Record-Low Turnout for Assembly Races . Aregood, JT . July 30, 2015 . . November 1, 2015.
  2. News: A new low: Only 22 percent of New Jersey voters cast ballot . . . December 1, 2015 . December 2, 2015.
  3. News: N.J. senators remark on Donald Norcross's career without mentioning the obvious: The Auditor . Staff . . December 11, 2014 . November 1, 2015.
  4. Web site: Official List Candidates for State Senate For General Election 11/03/2015 Election . . August 11, 2015 . November 1, 2015.
  5. News: Democrats win their largest N.J. Assembly majority in 37 years . Johnson, Brent . NJ Advance Media for NJ.com . November 3, 2015 . December 2, 2015.