Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
James J. Kennedy (New Jersey)
2016 - Present
2026
9
James Kennedy (Democratic Party) is a member of the New Jersey General Assembly, representing District 22. He assumed office in 2016. His current term ends on January 13, 2026.
Kennedy (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the New Jersey General Assembly to represent District 22. He is on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025. He advanced from the Democratic primary on June 10, 2025.
Biography
Kennedy's professional experience includes working as a principal for Skye Consulting L.L.C. He served as mayor of the City of Rahway from 1991 to 2010.[1]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Kennedy was assigned to the following committees:
- Environment and Solid Waste Committee, Chair
- Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee
- Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee
2020-2021
Kennedy was assigned to the following committees:
- Environment and Solid Waste Committee, Chair
- Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee, Vice-chair
- Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee
2019-2020
Kennedy was assigned to the following committees:
- Commerce and Economic Development Committee
- Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee
- Science, Innovation and Technology Committee, Vice-Chair
2016 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2016 legislative session, Kennedy served on the following committees:
| New Jersey committee assignments, 2016 |
|---|
| • Health and Senior Services |
| • Transportation and Independent Authorities |
Sponsored legislation
Elections
2025
See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2025
General election
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 (2 seats)
Incumbent Linda Carter, incumbent James Kennedy, Jermaine Caulder, and Lisa Fabrizio are running in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
| Linda Carter (D) | ||
 | James Kennedy (D) | |
| Jermaine Caulder (R) | ||
| Lisa Fabrizio (R) | ||
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 (2 seats)
Incumbent Linda Carter and incumbent James Kennedy advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 on June 10, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Linda Carter | 56.3 | 20,189 | |
| ✔ | | James Kennedy | 43.7 | 15,689 |
| Total votes: 35,878 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Lisa Di Salva (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 (2 seats)
Lisa Fabrizio and Jermaine Caulder advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 on June 10, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Lisa Fabrizio | 57.2 | 5,860 | |
| ✔ | Jermaine Caulder | 42.8 | 4,386 | |
| Total votes: 10,246 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Kennedy received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.
2023
See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2023
General election
General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 (2 seats)
Incumbent Linda Carter and incumbent James Kennedy defeated Lisa Fabrizio and Patricia Quattrocchi in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Linda Carter (D) | 33.3 | 23,710 | |
| ✔ | | James Kennedy (D) | 32.5 | 23,123 |
| Lisa Fabrizio (R) | 17.2 | 12,272 | ||
 | Patricia Quattrocchi (R) | 17.0 | 12,087 | |
| Total votes: 71,192 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 (2 seats)
Incumbent Linda Carter and incumbent James Kennedy advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 on June 6, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Linda Carter | 51.0 | 10,084 | |
| ✔ | | James Kennedy | 49.0 | 9,681 |
| Total votes: 19,765 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 (2 seats)
Lisa Fabrizio and Patricia Quattrocchi advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 on June 6, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Lisa Fabrizio | 50.5 | 2,353 | |
| ✔ | | Patricia Quattrocchi | 49.5 | 2,302 |
| Total votes: 4,655 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Kennedy in this election.
2021
See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2021
General election
General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 (2 seats)
Incumbent Linda Carter and incumbent James Kennedy defeated David Sypher and Hans Herberg in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Linda Carter (D) | 31.3 | 32,267 | |
| ✔ | | James Kennedy (D) | 30.6 | 31,593 |
 | David Sypher (R) | 19.2 | 19,825 | |
 | Hans Herberg (R) | 18.9 | 19,546 | |
| Total votes: 103,231 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 (2 seats)
Incumbent Linda Carter and incumbent James Kennedy advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 on June 8, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Linda Carter | 51.4 | 10,596 | |
| ✔ | | James Kennedy | 48.6 | 10,013 |
| Total votes: 20,609 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 (2 seats)
David Sypher and Hans Herberg advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 on June 8, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | David Sypher | 50.6 | 3,800 |
| ✔ | | Hans Herberg | 49.4 | 3,704 |
| Total votes: 7,504 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2019
See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2019
General election
General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 (2 seats)
Incumbent Linda Carter and incumbent James Kennedy defeated Patricia Quattrocchi in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Linda Carter (D) | 40.4 | 19,486 | |
| ✔ | | James Kennedy (D) | 39.0 | 18,836 |
| Patricia Quattrocchi (R) | 20.6 | 9,919 | |
| Total votes: 48,241 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 (2 seats)
Incumbent Linda Carter and incumbent James Kennedy defeated Carlos Rivas and Mark Lighten in the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 on June 4, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Linda Carter | 33.5 | 8,086 | |
| ✔ | | James Kennedy | 31.3 | 7,570 |
| Carlos Rivas | 18.4 | 4,432 | ||
| Mark Lighten | 16.8 | 4,059 | ||
| Total votes: 24,147 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 (2 seats)
Patricia Quattrocchi advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 22 on June 4, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Patricia Quattrocchi | 100.0 | 1,956 |
| Total votes: 1,956 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2017
General election
Elections for the New Jersey General Assembly took place in 2017. All 80 seats were up for election. State assembly members are elected to two-year terms. The general election took place on November 7, 2017. A primary election took place on June 6, 2017. The filing deadline for the primary election was April 3, 2017.[2] Legislative districts in the New Jersey General Assembly are multi-member districts, with two representatives in each district. In Democratic and Republican primary elections, the top two candidates move forward to the general election, and the top two candidates in the general election are declared the winners.[3] The following candidates ran in the New Jersey General Assembly District 22 general election.[4][5]
| New Jersey General Assembly, District 22 General Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  James J. Kennedy Incumbent |
32.62% | 27,763 | |
| Democratic | Gerald Green Incumbent |
32.05% | 27,284 | |
| Republican | Richard Fortunato | 17.19% | 14,631 | |
| Republican | John Quattrocchi | 16.07% | 13,682 | |
| Remember Those Forgotten | Onel Martinez | 1.11% | 942 | |
| Pushing Us Forward | Sumantha Prasad | 0.96% | 818 | |
| Total Votes | 85,120 | |||
| Source: New Jersey Department of State | ||||
Democratic primary election
Incumbent James J. Kennedy and incumbent Gerald Green defeated Paul Alirangues in the New Jersey General Assembly District 22 Democratic primary election.[6][7]
| New Jersey General Assembly, District 22 Democratic Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| James J. Kennedy Incumbent |
46.54% | 10,922 |
| Gerald Green Incumbent |
44.72% | 10,495 |
| Paul Alirangues | 8.74% | 2,053 |
| Total Votes | 23,470 | |
| Source: New Jersey Department of State | ||
Republican primary election
Richard Fortunato and John Quattrocchi were unopposed in the New Jersey General Assembly District 22 Republican primary election.[8][7]
| New Jersey General Assembly, District 22 Republican Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Richard Fortunato |
50.77% | 2,333 |
| John Quattrocchi |
49.23% | 2,262 |
| Total Votes | 4,595 | |
| Source: New Jersey Department of State | ||
2015
Elections for the New Jersey General Assembly took place in 2015. A primary election was held on June 2, 2015. The general election took place on November 3, 2015. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 30, 2015.[9] Since the general assembly uses multi-member districts, the top two candidates from each party in the primaries advanced to the general election. Incumbent Gerald Green and James J. Kennedy were bracketed together and were unopposed in the Democratic primary. William Vastine and William Michelson were bracketed together and were unopposed in the Republican primary. Green and Kennedy defeated Vastine and Michelson in the general election.[10][11][12][13]
| New Jersey General Assembly, District 22 General Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | James J. Kennedy |
30.5% | 12,087 | |
| Democratic | Gerald Green Incumbent |
29.7% | 11,769 | |
| Republican | William Vastine | 20.4% | 8,076 | |
| Republican | William Michelson | 19.4% | 7,666 | |
| Total Votes | 39,598 | |||
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
James Kennedy has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey. If you are James Kennedy, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for. More than 22,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.
Help improve Ballotpedia - send us candidate contact info.
2023
James Kennedy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2021
James Kennedy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.
2019
James Kennedy did not complete Ballotpedia's 2019 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of New Jersey scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2024, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 9 to December 19. |
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2023, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 10 to January 8.
|
2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2022, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 11 to December 31. |
2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2021, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 4 to January 11.
|
2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2020, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 14 to December 17.
|
2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2019, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 9, 2018, through January 14, 2020.
|
2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2018, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 9 through January 8, 2019.
|
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2017, the 217th New Jersey State Legislature, second annual session, was in session from January 10 through January 9, 2018.
|
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2016, the 217th New Jersey State Legislature, first annual session, was in session from January 12 through January 10, 2017.
|
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ New Jersey Legislature, "James J. Kennedy," accessed May 8, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Secretary of State, "2017 Primary Election Timeline," accessed March 21, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Division of Elections, "Official List, Candidates for General Assembly for Primary Election, June 6, 2017," accessed April 13, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Candidates for General Assembly for General Election 11/07/2017 Election," accessed September 14, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "2017 official general election results," accessed November 30, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Division of Elections, "Official Candidate List," April 6, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 New Jersey Division of Elections, “2017 official primary election results for general assembly,” accessed July 13, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Division of Elections, "Official Candidate List," April 6, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Department of Elections, "2015 Primary Election Timeline," accessed February 2, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official candidate list for June 2 primary," accessed May 22, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official primary election results for General Assembly," accessed August 10, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official list for candidate for General Assembly," accessed August 10, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official general election results for General Assembly," accessed December 7, 2015
