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New Jersey State Senate District 18

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New Jersey State Senate District 18
Incumbent
Assumed office: 2017

New Jersey State Senate District 18 is represented by Patrick Diegnan Jr. (D).

As of the 2020 Census, New Jersey state senators represented an average of 232,362 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 220,188 residents.

About the office

Members of the New Jersey State Senate serve four-year terms and are not subject to term limits. Known as the "2-4-4" cycle, Senators serve four-year terms, except in the first term of a new decade, which only lasts for two years. New Jersey legislators assume office at noon of the second Tuesday in January following the election.[1]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

In order to qualify as a candidate for the New Jersey State Senate, a candidate must:[2]

  • Be a citizen of the United States
  • Be 30 years of age or older by the day of swearing in
  • Be a registered voter
  • Reside in the state for a minimum of four years prior to the general election
  • Reside in the legislative district for one year prior to the general election



Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2024[3]
SalaryPer diem
$49,000/yearNo per diem is paid.

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the New Jersey State Legislature, the vacancy will be filled by an interim appointment by the county leadership of the political party that holds the seat. The office will be on the ballot in the next general election, unless the vacancy occurs within 51 days of the election. If that is the case, the appointment would stand until the following general election.[4][5]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: New Jersey Const., Art. IV, Sec. IV(1)


District map

Redistricting

2020 redistricting cycle

See also: Redistricting in New Jersey after the 2020 census

On February 18, 2022, the New Jersey Legislative Reapportionment Commission voted to approve a new set of state legislative maps.[6] The commission voted 9-2 to approve the maps. Thomas Kean Jr. (R) and Cosmo A. Cirillo (D) were the two dissenting votes.[7] The New Jersey Monitor's Nikita Biryukov wrote that the vote was "an unprecedented compromise for a commission that has historically relied on a court-appointed tiebreaker to end partisan gridlock."[6] These maps took effect for New Jersey's 2023 legislative elections.

How does redistricting in New Jersey work? In New Jersey, congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by two distinct politician commissions. The congressional redistricting commission comprises the following 13 members:[8]

  1. The majority and minority leaders of each chamber of the New Jersey State Legislature appoint two commissioners a piece (for a total of eight members).
  2. The chairs of the state's two major political parties each appoint two members to the commission (for a total of four members). Commissioners appointed by the political parties cannot be members of Congress or congressional employees.
  3. The first 12 commissioners appoint the last member. This member cannot have held public office in the state within the previous five-year period. If the first 12 commissioners cannot agree on an appointment, they must submit two names to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The court must then appoint the final commissioner.

If the congressional redistricting commission fails to reach an agreement about a redistricting plan, it must submit two plans to the state Supreme Court, which must in turn select from those two plans a final map.[8]

The state legislative redistricting commission comprises 10 members. The chairs of the state's two major political parties each appoint five members to the commission. In the event that this commission is unable to reach an agreement about a redistricting plan, the state Supreme Court may appoint a tie-breaking member.[8]

State law requires that state legislative districts meet the following criteria:[8]

  1. Districts must be contiguous.
  2. Districts "must be as nearly compact as possible."
  3. Municipalities "must be kept intact, except where otherwise required by law."

There are no such requirements in place for congressional districts.[8]

New Jersey State Senate District 18
until January 2, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

New Jersey State Senate District 18
starting January 3, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Elections

2023

See also: New Jersey State Senate elections, 2023

General election

General election for New Jersey State Senate District 18

Incumbent Patrick Diegnan Jr. defeated Neal Shah in the general election for New Jersey State Senate District 18 on November 7, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Patrick Diegnan Jr.
Patrick Diegnan Jr. (D)
 
64.0
 
24,294
Neal Shah (R)
 
36.0
 
13,661

Total votes: 37,955
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 18

Incumbent Patrick Diegnan Jr. defeated Christopher Binetti in the Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 18 on June 6, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Patrick Diegnan Jr.
Patrick Diegnan Jr.
 
89.0
 
13,186
Christopher Binetti
 
11.0
 
1,630

Total votes: 14,816
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Jersey State Senate District 18

Neal Shah advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey State Senate District 18 on June 6, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Neal Shah
 
100.0
 
3,076

Total votes: 3,076
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2021

See also: New Jersey State Senate elections, 2021

General election

General election for New Jersey State Senate District 18

Incumbent Patrick Diegnan Jr. defeated Vihal Patel in the general election for New Jersey State Senate District 18 on November 2, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Patrick Diegnan Jr.
Patrick Diegnan Jr. (D)
 
60.6
 
35,637
Vihal Patel (R)
 
39.4
 
23,144

Total votes: 58,781
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 18

Incumbent Patrick Diegnan Jr. defeated Mohin Patel in the Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 18 on June 8, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Patrick Diegnan Jr.
Patrick Diegnan Jr.
 
75.4
 
12,509
Mohin Patel
 
24.6
 
4,071

Total votes: 16,580
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Jersey State Senate District 18

Vihal Patel advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey State Senate District 18 on June 8, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
Vihal Patel
 
100.0
 
4,442

Total votes: 4,442
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2017

See also: New Jersey State Senate elections, 2017

General election

Elections for the New Jersey State Senate took place in 2017. All 40 seats were up for election. 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.[9][10] Incumbent Patrick Diegnan, Jr. (D) defeated Lewis Glogower (R) in the New Jersey State Senate District 18 general election.[11][12]

New Jersey State Senate, District 18 General Election, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Patrick Diegnan, Jr. Incumbent 65.62% 32,175
     Republican Lewis Glogower 34.38% 16,860
Total Votes 49,035
Source: New Jersey Department of State

Democratic primary election

Incumbent Patrick Diegnan, Jr. ran unopposed in the New Jersey State Senate District 18 Democratic primary election.[13]

Ballotpedia will publish vote totals here after they become available.
New Jersey State Senate, District 18 Democratic Primary, 2017
Candidate
Green check mark transparent.png Patrick Diegnan, Jr. Incumbent
Source: New Jersey Department of State

Republican primary election

Mark Csizmar ran unopposed in the New Jersey State Senate District 18 Republican primary election.[13]

Ballotpedia will publish vote totals here after they become available.
New Jersey State Senate, District 18 Republican Primary, 2017
Candidate
Green check mark transparent.png Mark Csizmar
Source: New Jersey Department of State

2016

See also: New Jersey state legislative special elections, 2016

A special election for the position of New Jersey State Senate District 18 was called for November 8.

The special election was held to fill a remaining term. Patrick Diegnan, Jr. (D) was first appointed to the chamber on May 9, 2016, to replace Peter Barnes (D).

Incumbent Patrick Diegnan, Jr. (D) defeated Roger Daley (R) in the special election.[14][15]

2013

See also: New Jersey State Senate elections, 2013

Elections for the office of New Jersey State Senate consisted of a primary election on June 4, 2013, and a general election on November 5, 2013. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 1, 2013. Assemblyman Peter Barnes, III (D) defeated David Stahl (R) in the general election. Both candidates were unopposed in the June 4 primary elections. [16][17][18]

New Jersey State Senate, District 18 General Election, 2013
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngPeter Barnes, III 51.9% 25,063
     Republican David Stahl 48.1% 23,184
Total Votes 48,247

2011

See also: New Jersey State Senate elections, 2011

Elections for the office of New Jersey State Senate consisted of a primary election on June 7, 2011, and a general election on November 8, 2011. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was April 11, 2011. Incumbent Barbara Buono (D) defeated Gloria Dittman (R) in the general election. Both candidates were unopposed in the June 7 primary elections.[19][20][21]

New Jersey State Senate District 18 General Election, 2011
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngBarbara Buono Incumbent 60.1% 19,631
     Republican Gloria Dittman 39.9% 13,042
Total Votes 32,673

Campaign contributions

From 2001 to 2023, candidates for New Jersey State Senate District 18 raised a total of $2,504,235. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $166,949 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money

Campaign contributions, New Jersey State Senate District 18
Year Amount Candidates Average
2023 $297,775 3 $99,258
2021 $375,179 3 $125,060
2011 $930,266 2 $465,133
2007 $453,084 3 $151,028
2003 $305,960 2 $152,980
2001 $141,971 2 $70,986
Total $2,504,235 15 $166,949


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. New Jersey Constitution, "Article IV, Section II (2.)," accessed February 10, 2021
  2. NJ.gov, "PETITION FILING INSTRUCTION SHEET 2025 GENERAL ELECTION NEW JERSEY STATE SENATE," accessed May 23, 2025
  3. National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
  4. New Jersey Legislature, "Our Legislature," accessed February 10, 2021
  5. New Jersey Legislature, "New Jersey Constitution," accessed February 10, 2021 (Article IV, Section 4, (1))
  6. 6.0 6.1 New Jersey Monitor, "Democrats, GOP agree on new legislative map for N.J.," February 18, 2022
  7. Insider NJ, "Redistricting Commission Finalizes Legislative Map by 9-2 Vote," February 18, 2022
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 All About Redistricting, "New Jersey," accessed May 6, 2015
  9. New Jersey Secretary of State, "2017 Primary Election Timeline," accessed March 21, 2017
  10. New Jersey Division of Elections, "Official List, Candidate for State Senate for Primary Election, June 6, 2017," accessed April 13, 2017
  11. New Jersey Department of State, "Candidates for State Senate for General Election 11/07/2017 Election," accessed September 14, 2017
  12. New Jersey Department of State, "2017 official general election results," accessed November 30, 2017
  13. 13.0 13.1 New Jersey Department of State, "Official Primary Results: State Senate," accessed July 14, 2017
  14. New Jersey Department of State, "For GENERAL ELECTION 11/08/2016 Election," accessed November 10, 2016
  15. NJ elections, "Candidates for State Senate," accessed October 5, 2016
  16. New Jersey Department of State, "Official Primary Election Results," accessed July 26, 2013
  17. New Jersey Department of State, "Unofficial general election candidates," accessed August 5, 2013 (dead link)
  18. New Jersey Department of State, "2013 Official General Election results," accessed December 5, 2013
  19. New Jersey Department of State, “2011 Official General Election Results,” accessed December 5, 2013
  20. New Jersey Department of State, “2011 Official Primary Election Results,” accessed December 5, 2013
  21. New Jersey Department of State, “2011 Official State Senate Primary Candidate List,” accessed December 5, 2013


Current members of the New Jersey State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Nicholas Scutari
Majority Leader:Teresa Ruiz
Minority Leader:Anthony Bucco
Senators
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
Vin Gopal (D)
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
Bob Smith (D)
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
Democratic Party (25)
Republican Party (15)