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Nilsa Cruz-Perez
2014 - Present
2028
11
Nilsa Cruz-Perez (Democratic Party) is a member of the New Jersey State Senate, representing District 5. She assumed office in 2014. Her current term ends on January 11, 2028.
Cruz-Perez (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the New Jersey State Senate to represent District 5. She won in the general election on November 7, 2023.
Cruz-Perez previously served in the New Jersey General Assembly, representing District 5 from 1995 to 2010. While in the General Assembly, she served as deputy majority leader from 2008 to 2010.
Biography
Cruz-Perez earned her B.A. in political science from the University of Puerto Rico. Her professional experience includes working as a community development specialist for the Camden County Improvement Authority. She served as a Sergeant in the United States Army from 1981 to 1987.[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
Cruz-Perez was assigned to the following committees:
- Budget and Appropriations Committee
- Economic Growth Committee, Chair
- Senate Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee, Vice Chair
- Housing Affordability Committee
2020-2021
Cruz-Perez was assigned to the following committees:
- Housing Affordability Committee
- Budget and Appropriations Committee
- Economic Growth Committee, Chair
- Senate Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee, Vice-chair
2019-2020
Cruz-Perez was assigned to the following committees:
- Budget and Appropriations Committee
- Economic Growth Committee, Chair
- State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee, Vice-Chair
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Cruz-Perez served on the following committees:
| New Jersey committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Economic Growth, Vice-Chair |
| • Public Schools |
| • Military and Veterans' Affairs |
| • Transportation |
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
2023
See also: New Jersey State Senate elections, 2023
General election
General election for New Jersey State Senate District 5
Incumbent Nilsa Cruz-Perez defeated Clyde Cook and Mohammad Kabir in the general election for New Jersey State Senate District 5 on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D) | 68.7 | 25,799 |
| Clyde Cook (R) | 29.9 | 11,245 | ||
 | Mohammad Kabir (Rights Tranquility Peace Party) | 1.4 | 530 | |
| Total votes: 37,574 | |||
 = 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 State Senate District 5
Incumbent Nilsa Cruz-Perez advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 5 on June 6, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Nilsa Cruz-Perez | 100.0 | 13,354 |
| Total votes: 13,354 | |||
| = 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 State Senate District 5
Clyde Cook advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey State Senate District 5 on June 6, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Clyde Cook | 100.0 | 2,776 | |
| Total votes: 2,776 | |||
| = 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 Cruz-Perez in this election.
2021
See also: New Jersey State Senate elections, 2021
General election
General election for New Jersey State Senate District 5
Incumbent Nilsa Cruz-Perez defeated Clyde Cook in the general election for New Jersey State Senate District 5 on November 2, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D) | 57.7 | 31,246 |
| Clyde Cook (R) | 42.3 | 22,903 | ||
| Total votes: 54,149 | |||
| = 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 State Senate District 5
Incumbent Nilsa Cruz-Perez advanced from the Democratic primary for New Jersey State Senate District 5 on June 8, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Nilsa Cruz-Perez | 100.0 | 12,719 |
| Total votes: 12,719 | |||
| = 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 State Senate District 5
Clyde Cook advanced from the Republican primary for New Jersey State Senate District 5 on June 8, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Clyde Cook (Write-in) | 100.0 | 158 | |
| Total votes: 158 | |||
| = 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
- 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.[2][3] Incumbent Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D) defeated Keith Walker (R) and Mohammad Kabir (Challenge Promise Fix) in the New Jersey State Senate District 5 general election.[4][5]
| New Jersey State Senate, District 5 General Election, 2017 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Nilsa Cruz-Perez Incumbent |
66.06% | 29,031 | |
| Republican | Keith Walker | 32.91% | 14,463 | |
| Challenge Promise Fix | Mohammad Kabir | 1.03% | 454 | |
| Total Votes | 43,948 | |||
| Source: New Jersey Department of State | ||||
Democratic primary election
Incumbent Nilsa Cruz-Perez ran unopposed in the New Jersey State Senate District 5 Democratic primary election.[6]
| New Jersey State Senate, District 5 Democratic Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| Nilsa Cruz-Perez Incumbent | ||
| Source: New Jersey Department of State | ||
Republican primary election
Keith Walker ran unopposed in the New Jersey State Senate District 5 Republican primary election.[6]
| New Jersey State Senate, District 5 Republican Primary, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| Keith Walker | ||
| Source: New Jersey Department of State | ||
2015
Incumbent Nilsa Cruz-Perez was unopposed in the Democratic primary and was unchallenged in the general election. Keith Walker (R) was not listed on the official candidate list for the June 2 primary.[7][8]
Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D) was appointed to the seat on December 15, 2014, to replace Donald Norcross (D), who resigned after he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. A special election was held to determine who would complete the final two years of Norcross' term.[9]
A special election for the position of New Jersey State Senate District 5 was called for November 3. A primary election took place on June 2. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 30, 2015.[7]
2007
Cruz-Perez and Joseph Roberts, Jr. (D) won re-election to New Jersey General Assembly District 5 in 2007. They defeated Edward Torres (R), Johnathan Mangel (R), Richard Giovanoni (G), and Mark Heacock (G) in the November 6 general election.
| New Jersey Assembly General Election, District 5 (2007) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | |||
| Joseph Roberts, Jr. (D)
|
17,554 | |||
| Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D)
|
15,978 | |||
| Edward Torres (R) | 9,136 | |||
| Johnathan Mangel (R) | 9,070 | |||
| Richard Giovanoni (G) | 1,419 | |||
| Mark Heacock (G) | 1,381 | |||
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Nilsa Cruz-Perez did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2021
Nilsa Cruz-Perez did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 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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See also
2023 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Biography of Sen. Cruz-Perez," accessed December 16, 2014
- ↑ New Jersey Secretary of State, "2017 Primary Election Timeline," accessed March 21, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Division of Elections, "Official List, Candidate for State Senate for Primary Election, June 6, 2017," accessed April 13, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Candidates for State Senate 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
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 New Jersey Department of State, "Official Primary Results: State Senate," accessed July 14, 2017
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 State of New Jersey Department of State, "Official candidate list for State Senate," accessed April 16, 2015
- ↑ State of New Jersey Department of State, "Unofficial primary election results," accessed June 3, 2015
- ↑ Philly.com, "Cruz-Perez sworn in to New Jersey state Senate seat," December 15, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
New Jersey State Senate District 5 2014-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
New Jersey General Assembly District 5 1995-2010 |
Succeeded by - |
