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Cleopatra Tucker
2008 - Present
2026
17
Cleopatra Tucker (Democratic Party) is a member of the New Jersey General Assembly, representing District 28. She assumed office in 2008. Her current term ends on January 13, 2026.
Tucker (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the New Jersey General Assembly to represent District 28. She is on the ballot in the general election on November 4, 2025. She advanced from the Democratic primary on June 10, 2025.
Biography
Tucker earned her B.A. in sociology from Miles College at Tennessee State University. Her professional experience includes working as executive director for the nonprofit, The Centre Incorporated.[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
Tucker was assigned to the following committees:
- Human Services Committee
- Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee, Chair
- Telecommunications and Utilities Committee
2020-2021
Tucker was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Tucker was assigned to the following committees:
2016 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2016 legislative session, Tucker served on the following committees:
New Jersey committee assignments, 2016 |
---|
• Military and Veterans' Affairs, Chair |
• Human Services, Vice-Chair |
• Regulatory Oversight and Reform and Federal Relations |
2015 legislative session
In the 2015 legislative session, Tucker served on the following committees:
New Jersey committee assignments, 2015 |
---|
• Military and Veterans' Affairs, Chair |
• Human Services, Vice-Chair |
• Regulatory Oversight |
2014 legislative session
In the 2014 legislative session, Tucker served on the following committees:
New Jersey committee assignments, 2014 |
---|
• Military and Veterans' Affairs, Chair |
• Human Services, Vice-Chair |
• Regulatory Oversight |
2010-2012
In the 2010-2012 legislative session, Tucker served on the following committees:
New Jersey committee assignments, 2010 |
---|
• Military and Veterans' Affairs, Vice-Chair |
• Health and Senior Services |
• Human Services |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2025
See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2025
General election
General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 (2 seats)
Incumbent Cleopatra Tucker and Chigozie U. Onyema are running in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 on November 4, 2025.
Candidate | ||
![]() | Cleopatra Tucker (D) | |
Chigozie U. Onyema (D) |
![]() | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 (2 seats)
Incumbent Cleopatra Tucker and Chigozie U. Onyema defeated incumbent Garnet Hall in the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 on June 10, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Cleopatra Tucker | 38.7 | 14,108 |
✔ | Chigozie U. Onyema | 36.9 | 13,456 | |
Garnet Hall | 24.5 | 8,932 |
Total votes: 36,496 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Nadirah Brown (D)
Republican primary election
No Republican candidates ran in the primary.
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Toye Kumolu (R)
- Che' J.T. Colter (R)
- Willie Jetti (R)
Endorsements
Tucker 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 28 (2 seats)
Incumbent Cleopatra Tucker and Garnet Hall defeated Joy Bembry-Freeman and Willie Jetti in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Cleopatra Tucker (D) | 46.3 | 19,094 |
✔ | Garnet Hall (D) | 45.2 | 18,637 | |
Joy Bembry-Freeman (R) | 4.6 | 1,902 | ||
Willie Jetti (R) | 3.9 | 1,600 |
Total votes: 41,233 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 (2 seats)
Garnet Hall and incumbent Cleopatra Tucker defeated Frank McGehee in the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 on June 6, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Garnet Hall | 41.0 | 8,520 | |
✔ | ![]() | Cleopatra Tucker | 39.6 | 8,237 |
Frank McGehee | 19.4 | 4,025 |
Total votes: 20,782 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 (2 seats)
Joy Bembry-Freeman and Willie Jetti advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 on June 6, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Joy Bembry-Freeman | 53.0 | 274 | |
✔ | Willie Jetti | 47.0 | 243 |
Total votes: 517 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Tucker in this election.
2021
See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2021
General election
General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 (2 seats)
Incumbent Ralph Caputo and incumbent Cleopatra Tucker defeated Monique Headen and Anthony D'Angelo in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Ralph Caputo (D) | 39.2 | 32,797 |
✔ | ![]() | Cleopatra Tucker (D) | 39.1 | 32,719 |
Monique Headen (R) | 10.8 | 9,063 | ||
Anthony D'Angelo (R) | 10.8 | 9,005 |
Total votes: 83,584 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 (2 seats)
Incumbent Cleopatra Tucker and incumbent Ralph Caputo advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 on June 8, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Cleopatra Tucker | 51.0 | 8,840 |
✔ | ![]() | Ralph Caputo | 49.0 | 8,490 |
Total votes: 17,330 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 (2 seats)
Anthony D'Angelo and Monique Headen advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 on June 8, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Anthony D'Angelo | 51.2 | 1,386 | |
✔ | Monique Headen | 48.8 | 1,320 |
Total votes: 2,706 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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2019
See also: New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2019
General election
General election for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 (2 seats)
Incumbent Ralph Caputo and incumbent Cleopatra Tucker defeated Joy Bembry-Freeman, Antonio Pires, and Derrick Ross in the general election for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Ralph Caputo (D) | 41.4 | 16,234 |
✔ | ![]() | Cleopatra Tucker (D) | 40.8 | 15,998 |
Joy Bembry-Freeman (R) | 8.4 | 3,282 | ||
Antonio Pires (R) | 7.7 | 3,025 | ||
Derrick Ross (Independent) | 1.6 | 627 |
Total votes: 39,166 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 (2 seats)
Incumbent Cleopatra Tucker and incumbent Ralph Caputo defeated Stephen Burd in the Democratic primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 on June 4, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | ![]() | Cleopatra Tucker | 48.0 | 4,553 |
✔ | ![]() | Ralph Caputo | 45.5 | 4,319 |
![]() | Stephen Burd ![]() | 6.6 | 622 |
Total votes: 9,494 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 (2 seats)
Joy Bembry-Freeman and Antonio Pires advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey General Assembly District 28 on June 4, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
✔ | Joy Bembry-Freeman | 51.8 | 515 | |
✔ | Antonio Pires | 48.2 | 479 |
Total votes: 994 | ||||
![]() | ||||
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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 28 general election.[4][5]
New Jersey General Assembly, District 28 General Election, 2017 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
Democratic | ![]() |
42.70% | 30,084 | |
Democratic | ![]() |
42.08% | 29,643 | |
Republican | Veronica Branch | 6.87% | 4,839 | |
Republican | James Boydston | 6.63% | 4,672 | |
Time for change | Joanne Miller | 1.11% | 782 | |
A New Hope | Scott Thomas Nicastro Jr. | 0.61% | 430 | |
Total Votes | 70,450 | |||
Source: New Jersey Department of State |
Democratic primary election
Incumbent Cleopatra Tucker and incumbent Ralph Caputo were unopposed in the New Jersey General Assembly District 28 Democratic primary election.[6][7]
New Jersey General Assembly, District 28 Democratic Primary, 2017 | ||
---|---|---|
Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
![]() |
51.84% | 11,229 |
![]() |
48.16% | 10,433 |
Total Votes | 21,662 | |
Source: New Jersey Department of State |
Republican primary election
James Boydston and Veronica Branch were unopposed in the New Jersey General Assembly District 28 Republican primary election.[8][7]
New Jersey General Assembly, District 28 Republican Primary, 2017 | ||
---|---|---|
Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
![]() |
50.14% | 865 |
![]() |
49.86% | 860 |
Total Votes | 1,725 | |
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 Ralph Caputo and incumbent Cleopatra Tucker were bracketed together and were unopposed in the Democratic primary. Darnel Henry and David Pinckney were bracketed together and were unopposed in the Republican primary. Caputo and Tucker defeated Henry and Pinckney in the general election.[10][11][12][13][14]
2013
Tucker won re-election in the 2013 election for New Jersey General Assembly District 28. Tucker was bracketed with Ralph Caputo. She was unopposed in the June 4 Democratic primary. She and incumbent Ralph Caputo (D) defeated James Boydston (R) and Peter S. Manning (R) in the general election, which took place on November 5, 2013.[15][16][17][18]
2011
Tucker won re-election in 2011. She and incumbent Ralph Caputo were bracketed together and defeated Michael Frazzano in the Democratic primary on June 7. They then defeated Carol Humphreys (R) and David Pinckney (R) in the November 8 general election.[19]
2009
Running for re-election in the November 3, 2009, general election, Tucker received 25,516 votes (40%), defeating Republican challengers Herbert Glenn and Andrew Bloschak.[20] She was bracketed with Ralph Caputo (D).[21]
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
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2023
Cleopatra Tucker did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2021
Cleopatra Tucker did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.
2019
Cleopatra Tucker 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]. |
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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]. |
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In 2023, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 10 to January 8.
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2022
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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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]. |
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In 2021, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 4 to January 11.
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2020
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 14 to December 17.
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2019
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 9, 2018, through January 14, 2020.
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2018
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the New Jersey State Legislature was in session from January 9 through January 8, 2019.
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2017
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the 217th New Jersey State Legislature, second annual session, was in session from January 10 through January 9, 2018.
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2016
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the 217th New Jersey State Legislature, first annual session, was in session from January 12 through January 10, 2017.
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2015
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the 216th New Jersey State Legislature, second annual session, was in session from January 13 through December 31.
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2014
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the 216th New Jersey State Legislature, first annual session, was in session from January 14 through January 12, 2015.
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2013
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the 215th New Jersey State Legislature, second annual session, was in session from January 10 to January 13, 2014.
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2012
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the 215th New Jersey State Legislature, first annual session, was in session from January 10 to January 9, 2013.
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Endorsements
2013
In 2013, Tucker’s endorsements included the following:[22] [23]
- The New Jersey AFL-CIO
- Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey
2011
In 2011, Tucker’s endorsements included the following:[24]
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Tucker and her late husband, Donald, have two children.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Officeholder New Jersey General Assembly District 28 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ 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, "Unofficial primary election results," accessed June 3, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official list for candidate for General Assembly," accessed August 10, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official primary results for General Assembly," accessed August 10, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official general election results for General Assembly," accessed December 7, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of Elections, "Official Primary Election Results," accessed July 26, 2013
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official 2013 General Assembly general election candidates," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ Associated Press, "New Jersey - Summary Vote Results," November 6, 2013
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "2013 Official General Election results," accessed December 9, 2013
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "2011 Official General Assembly Primary Candidate List," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ Associated Press, "General Election Results, November 4, 2009," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Official 2009 New Jersey Assembly General Election Results," accessed April 10, 2014
- ↑ PolitickerNJ.com, "AFL-CIO endorses candidates for elections," accessed September 4, 2013
- ↑ Planned Parenthood NJ "Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey Announces Endorsements in State Elections," accessed September 5, 2013
- ↑ Politicker NJ, "2011 AFL-CIO endorsed candidates," accessed August 5, 2011