New Jersey's 12th Legislative District is one of 40 in the state, covering the
Burlington County
Burlington County is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The county is the largest by area in New Jersey. Its county seat is Mount Holly.
New Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...
. Accessed January 29, 2014.
Demographic characteristics
As of the
2020 United States census
The United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to off ...
, the district had a population of 230,971, of whom 182,139 (78.9%) were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 167,675 (72.6%)
White
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
, 15,755 (6.8%)
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 9,349 (4.0%) from some other race, and 18,231 (7.9%) from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or Latino of any race were 27,497 (11.9%) of the population.
The district had 167,202 registered voters as of December 1, 2021, of whom 67,442 (40.3%) were registered as unaffiliated, 51,274 (30.7%) were registered as Republicans, 46,354 (27.7%) were registered as Democrats, and 2,132 (1.3%) were registered to other parties.
State Senate
A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...
General Assembly
A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company.
Specific examples of general assembly include:
Churches
* General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of pres ...
by
Robert D. Clifton
Robert D. Clifton (born December 31, 1968) is an American Republican Party politician who has represented the 12th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly since January 10, 2012. He previously served on the Monmouth County, Ne ...
(R, Matawan) and Alex Sauickie (R, Jackson Township). Sauickie was appointed to the vacant seat previously held by Ronald S. Dancer (R, Plumsted Township), who had served the district from the start of the session until his death on July 23, 2022."Ronald Dancer, veteran N.J. lawmaker, dies at 73" NJ Advance Media for
NJ.com
NJ.com is a digital news content provider and website in New Jersey owned by Advance Publications. According to a report in ''The New York Times'' in 2012, it was the largest provider of digital news in the state at the time. In 2018, comScore r ...
, July 23, 2022. Accessed July 24, 2022. "State Assemblyman Ronald Dancer, an Ocean County Republican and military veteran who served nearly two decades as a lawmaker in the New Jersey Legislature, has died after a long illness."
The legislative district overlaps with New Jersey's 3rd, 4th,
6th
6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number.
In mathematics
Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second ...
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
decision '' Reynolds v. Sims'' which required the creation of state legislature districts to be made as equal in population as possible and the 1973 creation of the 40-district map, the 12th District consisted of all of
Hudson County
Hudson County is the most densely populated county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It lies west of the lower Hudson River, which was named for Henry Hudson, the sea captain who explored the area in 1609. Part of New Jersey's Gateway Region in ...
. Senators were elected
at-large
At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...
in the 12th District; three members of the Senate were elected in the 1965 and 1971 elections for a two-year term and four Senators were elected for the four-year term elected in the 1967 elections. From 1967 until 1971, the 12th Senate District was split into four Assembly districts with each district electing two members. For the final election held under the interim measures, the 12th Senate District was split into three Assembly districts each electing two members and an additional Assembly member elected at-large by the entire county.
The members elected to the Senate from this district are as follows:
The members elected to the Assembly from each district are as follows:
District composition since 1973
When the 40-district legislative map was created in 1973, the 12th District first included the Middlesex County townships of Monroe Township and Madison (now Old Bridge) and the northern Monmouth County municipalities of Matawan borough and township (the latter now
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...
), Keyport, Union Beach, Keansburg, Middletown Township, and Red Bank. For the 1981 redistricting, almost the entire district was changed, only retaining Red Bank from the previous map. It consisted of all of western Monmouth County and some boroughs of northeastern Monmouth including
Tinton Falls
Tinton Falls is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 17,892,Rumson, and
West Long Branch
West Long Branch is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 8,097,panhandle
A salient (also known as a panhandle or bootheel) is an elongated protrusion of a geopolitical entity, such as a subnational entity or a sovereign state.
While similar to a peninsula in shape, a salient is most often not surrounded by water on ...
municipalities of western Monmouth and some of the boroughs on the east side of the district were shifted to other districts. The district became a long, narrow district in an east–west fashion in the 2001 redistricting stretching from Oceanport through the central Monmouth townships, and continuing into East Windsor and
Hightstown
Hightstown is a borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 5,494,Mercer County. Following the 2011 redistricting, the district boundaries experienced yet another major change when it became composed of municipalities from four counties, Burlington, Ocean, Monmouth, and Middlesex.