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Fact check: Has Rep. Donald Norcross “voted with the Republicans more than any other” New Jersey Democrat in the House of Representatives?
April 29, 2016
By Paul Brennan
The 1st Congressional District in New Jersey is considered a safe seat for Democrats in this year’s election, but the challenger in the Democratic primary claims incumbent Rep. Donald Norcross is not a reliable vote for his Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives.
“He is the representative that has voted with the Republicans more than any other member of the New Jersey Democratic delegation,” challenger Alex Law told Politicker NJ.[1]
It’s a claim Law has repeated throughout his campaign, but is he correct?
To determine the validity of the claim, we consulted the records published by the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and examined every vote cast by Democratic members of the House from New Jersey, since the first vote Norcross cast after he joined the House following a special election in November 2014.[2][3] Law is correct, Norcross has voted with Republicans more than the other Democratic members of the House from New Jersey during this period.
Norcross' voting record
New Jersey's 1st Congressional District is located in the Southwest part of the state, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. It has been represented by a Democrat in Congress since 1975.[4]
Norcross was sworn in as the congressional representative for the 1st District on November 12, 2014, joining a 12 person state delegation that is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.[5]
Norcross has cast 923 votes since November 13, 2014. He has voted with a Republican majority a total of 247 times (26.7 percent). It should be noted that 208 of those votes came when a majority of Democrats joined Republicans to create a bipartisan majority. These bipartisan votes were often on noncontroversial matters, such as the naming of post offices and a bill to prevent former members of Germany’s Nazi Party from receiving Social Security benefits.[6]
However, Norcross has also voted with the Republican majority on 39 occasions (4.2 percent) when a majority of House Democrats were voting in opposition. No other New Jersey Democrat voted as often with Republicans in opposition to a majority of Democrats in the same period. The nearest to Norcross’ record is Rep. Albio Sires, who has voted with the Republicans in opposition to a majority of Democrats 30 times since Norcross joined Congress.
| Votes by New Jersey Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives since November 13, 2014. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Congressional District | Total number of times voting with the Republican majority | Number of times voting with the Republican majority when a majority of Democrats voted in opposition |
| Donald Norcross | 1st | 247 | 39 |
| Frank Pallone | 6th | 196 | 7 |
| Albio Sires | 8th | 217 | 30 |
| Bill Pascrell | 9th | 210 | 16 |
| Donald Payne, Jr. | 10th | 172 | 6 |
| Rush D. Holt, Jr.* | 12th | 15 | 0 |
| Bonnie Watson Coleman* | 12th | 181 | 7 |
| *Rush Holt represented the 12th Congressional District from January 1999 to January 2015. Bonnie Watson Coleman was elected in the November 2014 general election and took office in January 2015. | |||
Several of Norcross’ votes in opposition to a Democratic majority have been on high-profile issues, as the New Jersey media has noted.[7] The third vote he cast after joining the House was in favor of a bill authorizing the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.[8] A total of 31 of the 192 Democrats voting on the bill supported it. In the New Jersey delegation, only Sires joined Norcross in voting “aye.”[9]
In a press release following that vote, Norcross said, “I’m following through on my commitment to be an independent voice for South Jersey because we need to work together to create good American jobs and become less dependent on the Middle East for our energy.”[10]
Other votes in which Norcross opposed a majority of Democrats include the American SAFE Act, the FY 2016 Defense Authorization Act, and the authorization of the nuclear deal with Iran.
Conclusion
Alex Law, who is running against Rep. Donald Norcross in the Democratic primary for the House seat in New Jersey’s 1st District, claims Norcross “has voted with the Republicans more than any other member of the New Jersey Democratic delegation.” A review of the voting records published by the Clerk of the House of Representatives shows that Law is correct. Since joining the House in November 2014, Norcross has voted with Republican majorities, in opposition to a majority of House Democrats, 39 times. That is the highest number of such votes cast by any New Jersey Democrat in the House.
See also
Launched in October 2015 and active through October 2018, Fact Check by Ballotpedia examined claims made by elected officials, political appointees, and political candidates at the federal, state, and local levels. We evaluated claims made by politicians of all backgrounds and affiliations, subjecting them to the same objective and neutral examination process. As of 2025, Ballotpedia staff periodically review these articles to revaluate and reaffirm our conclusions. Please email us with questions, comments, or concerns about these articles. To learn more about fact-checking, click here.
Sources and Notes
- ↑ Politicker NJ, “Challenger Alex Law attacks Norcross’ refugee screening vote,” November 23, 2015
- ↑ Norcross was elected in a special election to fill the seat of former Rep. Rob Andrews (D), who resigned in February 2014. The special election was held at the same time at the 2014 November general election. Norcross won both the special election and the general election.
- ↑ Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, “Legislation and Votes,” accessed April 27, 2016
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Election Results," accessed April 28, 2016
- ↑ Govtrack.us, "New Jersey," accessed April 28, 2016
- ↑ Congress.gov, “No Social Security for Nazis Act,” accessed April 28, 2016
- ↑ NJ.com, “Norcross 3rd N.J. Dem who will vote no on Iran,” August 21, 2015
- ↑ U.S. Government Printing Office, “H.R. 5682 (RDS)--An Act to approve the Keystone XL pipeline,” accessed April 28, 2016
- ↑ Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, “Final vote results for Roll Call 519,” November 14, 2014
- ↑ U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross, “Congressman Norcross supports the bipartisan effort to approve Keystone XL pipeline,” November 14, 2014
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