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New Jersey State Senate District 37

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New Jersey State Senate District 37
Incumbent
Assumed office: January 11, 2022

New Jersey State Senate District 37 is represented by Gordon Johnson (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 37
until January 2, 2023

Click a district to compare boundaries.

New Jersey State Senate District 37
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 37

Incumbent Gordon Johnson defeated Dierdre Paul in the general election for New Jersey State Senate District 37 on November 7, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gordon Johnson
Gordon Johnson (D)
 
72.1
 
27,466
Image of Dierdre Paul
Dierdre Paul (R)
 
27.9
 
10,610

Total votes: 38,076
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 37

Incumbent Gordon Johnson advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 37 on June 6, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gordon Johnson
Gordon Johnson
 
100.0
 
8,930

Total votes: 8,930
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Jersey State Senate District 37

Dierdre Paul advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey State Senate District 37 on June 6, 2023.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Dierdre Paul
Dierdre Paul
 
100.0
 
1,919

Total votes: 1,919
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 37

Gordon Johnson defeated Michael Koontz and Glenn Coley in the general election for New Jersey State Senate District 37 on November 2, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gordon Johnson
Gordon Johnson (D)
 
67.0
 
34,410
Image of Michael Koontz
Michael Koontz (R) Candidate Connection
 
31.5
 
16,155
Glenn Coley (New Directions)
 
1.5
 
759

Total votes: 51,324
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 37

Gordon Johnson defeated Valerie Vainieri Huttle in the Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 37 on June 8, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Gordon Johnson
Gordon Johnson
 
72.2
 
10,404
Image of Valerie Vainieri Huttle
Valerie Vainieri Huttle
 
27.8
 
4,011

Total votes: 14,415
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for New Jersey State Senate District 37

Michael Koontz advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey State Senate District 37 on June 8, 2021.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Michael Koontz
Michael Koontz Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
1,124

Total votes: 1,124
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 Loretta Weinberg (D) defeated Modesto Romero (R) in the New Jersey State Senate District 37 general election.[11][12]

New Jersey State Senate, District 37 General Election, 2017
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Loretta Weinberg Incumbent 75.37% 33,017
     Republican Modesto Romero 24.63% 10,788
Total Votes 43,805
Source: New Jersey Department of State

Democratic primary election

Incumbent Loretta Weinberg ran unopposed in the New Jersey State Senate District 37 Democratic primary election.[13]

Ballotpedia will publish vote totals here after they become available.
New Jersey State Senate, District 37 Democratic Primary, 2017
Candidate
Green check mark transparent.png Loretta Weinberg Incumbent
Source: New Jersey Department of State

Republican primary election

Modesto Romero defeated Eric Fisher in the New Jersey State Senate District 37 Republican primary election.[13]

New Jersey State Senate, District 37 Republican Primary, 2017
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Modesto Romero 52.67% 1,133
Eric Fisher 47.33% 1,018
Total Votes 2,151
Source: New Jersey Department of State

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. Incumbent Loretta Weinberg (D) defeated Paul A. Duggen (R) in the general election. Both candidates were unopposed in the June 4 primary elections. [14][15][16]

New Jersey State Senate, District 37 General Election, 2013
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngLoretta Weinberg Incumbent 68.5% 28,321
     Republican Paul A. Duggen 31.5% 13,038
Total Votes 41,359

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 Loretta Weinberg (D) defeated Robert Lebovics (R) in the general election. Both candidates were unopposed in the June 7 primary elections.[17][18][19]

New Jersey State Senate District 37 General Election, 2011
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngLoretta Weinberg Incumbent 69.9% 23,141
     Republican Robert Lebovics 30.1% 9,980
Total Votes 33,121

Campaign contributions

From 2001 to 2023, candidates for New Jersey State Senate District 37 raised a total of $2,549,880. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $149,993 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money

Campaign contributions, New Jersey State Senate District 37
Year Amount Candidates Average
2023 $210,727 2 $105,364
2021 $637,443 4 $159,361
2017 $196,400 1 $196,400
2011 $325,670 2 $162,835
2007 $441,526 2 $220,763
2003 $580,725 4 $145,181
2001 $157,388 2 $78,694
Total $2,549,880 17 $149,993


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, "Official Primary Election Results," accessed July 26, 2013
  15. New Jersey Department of State, "Unofficial general election candidates," accessed August 5, 2013 (dead link)
  16. New Jersey Department of State, "2013 Official General Election results," accessed December 5, 2013
  17. New Jersey Department of State, “2011 Official General Election Results,” accessed December 5, 2013
  18. New Jersey Department of State, “2011 Official Primary Election Results,” accessed December 5, 2013
  19. 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)