New Jersey's 15th Legislative district | ||
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New Jersey State Senator | Shirley Turner (D) | |
New Jersey General Assemblymembers | Reed Gusciora (D) Bonnie Watson Coleman (D) |
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Registration | 28.5% Democratic
11.0% Republican
60.5% Independent
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Demographics | 58.8% White
29.2% Black
11.7% Hispanic
3.6% Asian
0.2% Native American
0.1% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
8.0% other
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Population | 201,335 | |
Voting-age population | 154,009 | |
Registered voters | 112,965 |
New Jersey's 15th Legislative District is one of 40 in the state, covering the Mercer County municipalities of Ewing Township, Hopewell Borough, Hopewell Township, Lawrence Township, Pennington Borough, Princeton Borough, Princeton Township and Trenton.[1] As of the 2000 United States Census, the district had a population of 212,000.[2]
As a result of New Jersey's decennial legislative redistricting process, the new 15th District from January 2012 to January 2022 will include the following municipalities: East Amwell Township, Ewing Township, Hopewell Borough, Hopewell Township, Lambertville City, Lawrence Township, Pennington Borough, Trenton City, West Amwell Township, and West Windsor Township.[3]
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The district includes New Jersey's capital, Trenton and a number of its comparatively wealthier suburbs to the north. The district has the smallest population of any district in the state, and has a comparatively higher percentage of African-American residents and a notable percentage of children in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by an almost 3 to 1 margin.[4][5]
The district is represented in the New Jersey Senate by Shirley Turner (D, Lawrenceville) and in the New Jersey General Assembly by Reed Gusciora (D, Borough of Princeton) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D, Ewing Township).[6]
The district had been solidly Republican until 1982, when redistricting following the 1980 United States Census added Trenton to the district, and made the 15th a strongly Democratic district.[7][8] The 1981 elections brought in Democrats Gerald R. Stockman in the Senate, along with Gerald S. Naples and John S. Watson in the Assembly. The trio remained together in office for a decade.
New Jersey Lottery television host ran as a Republican in 1991, having registered with the party only five days before that year's filing deadline. He defeated incumbent Gerald R. Stockman by a narrow 50.9%-49.1% margin.[9] His Republican running mate John W. Hartmann knocked off Naples, while Democrat Watson was narrowly re-elected to a sixth term in office. Hartmann, a 24-year-old student at the Seton Hall University School of Law, became the youngest Republican ever elected to the Assembly.[10]
In the 1993 elections, Democrats sought to recoup their losses suffered in the 1991 Republican landslide. In the Assembly, Shirley Turner and Joseph Yuhas ran for office, winning back Hartmann's seat from the Republicans. LaRossa faced Stockman for a second time in 1993, with the incumbent receiving endorsements from the AFL-CIO, locals of the Communication Workers of America and the New Jersey State Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.[11] LaRossa won re-election despite the challenge.[12]
Yuhas stepped down after a single term in office and was replaced on the ballot in 1995 by Reed Gusciora.[13]