New Jersey Senate

The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with average populations of 210,359 (2000 figure). Each district has one senator and two members of the New Jersey General Assembly, the lower house of the legislature. Prior to the election in which they are chosen, senators must be a minimum of 30 years old and a resident of the state for four years to be eligible to serve in office.[1]

For the current session, see New Jersey Senate, 2020–21 term.

New Jersey Senate
New Jersey Legislature
Type
Type
Term limits
None
History
New session started
January 9, 2018
Leadership
Stephen M. Sweeney (D)
since January 12, 2010
Loretta Weinberg (D)
since January 10, 2012
Teresa Ruiz (D)
since January 9, 2018
Deputy Majority Leader
Paul Sarlo (D)
since January 8, 2008
Thomas Kean, Jr. (R)
since January 8, 2008
Structure
Seats40
Political groups
Majority
  •   Democratic (25)

Minority

  •   Republican (15)
Length of term
4 years (with one two-year term each decade)
AuthorityArticle IV, New Jersey Constitution
Salary$49,000/year
Elections
Last election
November 7, 2017
(40 seats)
Next election
November 2, 2021
(40 seats)
RedistrictingNew Jersey Apportionment Commission
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber
New Jersey State House
Trenton, New Jersey
Website
New Jersey State Legislature

From 1844 until 1965 (when redistricting could be done following the Reynolds v. Sims decision), each county was an electoral district electing one senator. Under the 1844 Constitution the term of office was three years, which was changed to four years with the 1947 Constitution. Since 1968 the Senate has consisted of 40 senators, who are elected in a "2-4-4" cycle. Senators serve a two-year term at the beginning of each decade, with the rest of the decade divided into two four-year terms. The "2-4-4" cycle was put into place so that Senate elections can reflect the changes made to the district boundaries on the basis of the decennial United States Census.[1] If the cycle were not put into place, then the boundaries would sometimes be four years out of date before being used for Senate elections. Rather, with the varied term, the boundaries are only two years out of date. Thus elections for Senate seats take place in years ending with a "1", "3" or "7" (i.e. next elections in 2021, 2023 and 2027).

Interim appointments are made to fill vacant legislative seats by the county committee or committees of the party of the vacating person (since a constitutional amendment passed on November 8, 1988). The office is on the ballot for the next general election, even if the other Senate seats are not up for election in that year (such as in years ending with a "5" or "9", such as 2009 or 2015). The sole exception to this is if the vacancy occurred within 51 days of the election, in which case the appointment stands until the following general election.[2]

Senatorial courtesy
Main article: Senatorial courtesy (New Jersey)

Senatorial courtesy is a senate tradition that allows home county legislators to intercede to prevent consideration of a local resident nominated by the Governor for a position that requires Senate confirmation.[3] Any of the senators from the nominee's home county can invoke senatorial courtesy to block a nomination, temporarily or permanently, without any obligation to justify the basis of their actions.[4]

Governor Corzine nominated Stuart Rabner on June 4, 2007, to be the next Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, replacing James R. Zazzali, who was nearing mandatory retirement age.[5] Shortly after the nomination, two members of the Senate from Essex County, where Rabner resides, blocked consideration of his confirmation by invoking senatorial courtesy. State Senator Ronald Rice had initially blocked the nomination, but relented on June 15, 2007, after a meeting with the governor.[6] Nia Gill dropped her block on June 19, 2007, but did not explain the nature of her concerns, though anonymous lawmakers cited in The New York Times indicated that the objection was due to Rabner's race and Governor Corzine's failure to consider a minority candidate for the post.[3]

Also in June 2007, Loretta Weinberg used senatorial courtesy privileges to hold up consideration of a new term in office for Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli.[4]

Acting governor

Until 2010, in the event of a gubernatorial vacancy, the New Jersey Constitution had specified that the President of the Senate (followed by the Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly) would assume the role of Acting Governor and retain their role in the Senate (or Assembly). An Acting Governor would then assume the governorship while retaining the reins of power in their house of the legislature.

The Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey took office for the first time on January 19, 2010, following conjoint election with the Governor of New Jersey. The position was created as the result of a Constitutional amendment to the New Jersey State Constitution passed by the voters on November 8, 2005. While the amendment itself took effect as of January 17, 2006, and made some interim changes to the succession to the governorship, the first lieutenant governor was not elected until November 3, 2009.

Composition
Affiliation Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
 Total
Democratic Republican Vacant
2016-2017 legislature 24 16 40 0
2018-2019 legislature 25 15 40 0
January 28, 2019[7][8] 26 14 40 0
September 16, 2019[9][10] 25 15 40 0
Latest voting share 64.1% 35.9%

List of state senators
Members of the New Jersey Senate for the 2018-2019 Legislative Session are:[11]
  Democratic senator
  Republican senator

Committees and committee chairs

Committee chairs for the 2018-2019 Legislative Session are:[12]

List of past Senate Presidents
See also: List of New Jersey state legislatures

The following is a list of past Presidents of the New Jersey Senate since the adoption of the 1844 State Constitution:[13]

Past composition
Main article: Political party strength in New Jersey

References
  1. Our Legislature, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 10, 2018. "Legislative elections are held in November of each odd-numbered year. Members of the Assembly serve two-year terms. Senators serve four-year terms, except for the first term of a new decade, which is only two years. This '2-4-4' cycle allows for elections from new districts as soon as possible after each reapportionment."
  2. New Jersey Constitution Archived June 30, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 10, 2018. "Any vacancy in the Legislature occasioned otherwise than by expiration of term shall be filled by election for the unexpired term only at the next general election occurring not less than 51 days after the occurrence of the vacancy, except that no vacancy shall be filled at the general election which immediately precedes the expiration of the term in which the vacancy occurs. For the interim period pending the election and qualification of a successor to fill the vacancy, or for the remainder of the term in the case of a vacancy occurring which cannot be filled pursuant to the terms of this paragraph at a general election, the vacancy shall be filled within 35 days by the members of the county committee of the political party of which the incumbent was the nominee from the municipalities or districts or units thereof which comprise the legislative district. Article IV, Section IV, paragraph 1 amended effective December 8, 1988."
  3. Jones, Richard G. "Senator Drops Objections to Corzine Court Nominee", The New York Times, June 20, 2007. Accessed June 20, 2007. "Senator Gill had delayed Mr. Rabner's confirmation hearing by using "senatorial courtesy" — an obscure practice through which senators who represent the home county of nominees may block consideration of their confirmations."
  4. Carmiel, Oshrat. "Deadline looms for Molinelli's job", The Record (Bergen County), June 20, 2007. Accessed June 20, 2007. "Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli, whose term expired last month, may have to wait until the fall to be considered again for a second term if state Sen. Loretta Weinberg doesn't sign off on his nomination today.... Weinberg is invoking an unwritten practice called senatorial courtesy, which allows state senators to block consideration of gubernatorial nominees from their home counties without explanation. The courtesy tradition, as applied to Molinelli, requires each senator from Bergen County to sign off on his nomination before the Judiciary Committee can consider the nomination."
  5. "Source: Corzine picks Rabner as chief justice, Milgram as AG", Courier News, May 31, 2007. Accessed May 31, 2007.
  6. Associated Press. "Opposition Ebbs on Corzine Judge", The New York Times, June 15, 2007. Accessed June 20, 2007. "Ronald L. Rice, an Essex County Democrat and state senator, said yesterday that he would no longer block Gov. Jon S. Corzine's nomination for chief justice of the State Supreme Court."
  7. Dawn Addiego (8th) changed party affiliation from Republican to Democratic.
  8. Levinsky, David. "Burlington County Times". www.burlingtoncountytimes.com.
  9. Anthony Bucco (25th) died.
  10. "State Sen. Tony Bucco Dead At 81". Morristown, NJ Patch. September 17, 2019.
  11. Legislative Roster 2018-2019 Session, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 10, 2018.
  12. New Jersey Legislature Committees and Membership 2018-2019 Legislative Session - Senate Committees, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed February 5, 2018.
  13. Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey. J.A. Fitzgerald. 1977.

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