Shirley Kersey Turner (born July 3, 1941) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has been serving in the

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

since 1998, where she represents the 15th Legislative District.

Early life

Turner was born in

Dover, New Jersey Dover is a town in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Located on the Rockaway River, Dover is about west of New York City and about west of Newark, New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 18,4 ...

, and graduated from Dover High School in 1960. She received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from Trenton State College (now

The College of New Jersey The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is a public university in Ewing Township, New Jersey. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Established in 1855 as the New Jersey State Normal School, TCNJ was the first normal school, ...

) in Education and an M.A. from

Rider College Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, United States. It consists of three academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which includes Westminster Choir Coll ...

in Guidance and Counseling, and has done postgraduate work in education at

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

. Turner resides in the Lawrenceville section of Lawrence Township.Senator Shirley K. Turner

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

. Accessed October 22, 2007. Before entering state politics, Senator Turner served on the Mercer County

Board of Chosen Freeholders In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the ...

from 1983 to 1986, where she served as Freeholder Vice President. Before being elected to the State Senate, Turner served in New Jersey's

lower house A lower house is the lower chamber of a bicameral legislature, where the other chamber is the upper house. Although styled as "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide, the lower house has come to wield more power or otherwise e ...

, the

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 presby ...

, from 1994 to 1998.

New Jersey Senate

In the 1997 general election, Turner defeated incumbent Republican Dick LaRossa, making him the only Republican Senator to lose his seat. Turner was Senate President Pro Tempore, a position which she has held since 2004 to 2010. She serves in the Senate on the Education Committee (as Chair) and as a member of the Budget and Appropriations Committee. In a 2010 vote on

same sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 billion people (20% ...

, Turner was one of six Democrats to vote against the bill to legalize it. However, in a 2012 vote on a similar bill, she supported the measure (which would be

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...

ed by Governor

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician and former United States Attorney, federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party (United States) ...

Committees

Committee assignments for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:Senator Shirley K. Turner (D)

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 ...

. Accessed January 22, 2024. *Education (as vice-chair) *Economic Growth (as vice-chair) *State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation

District 15

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

and two members in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

. The representatives from the 15th District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:Legislative Roster for District 15

. Accessed September 28, 2022. * Senator Shirley Turner (D) * Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D) * Assemblyman Anthony Verrelli (D)

Election history

Senate

Assembly

References

External links

Senator Turner's legislative web page

*''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
20112010200920082007200620052004Senator Shirley K. Turner

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Shirley 1941 births 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American women politicians 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American women politicians 21st-century American women politicians African-American state legislators in New Jersey County commissioners in New Jersey Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Democratic Party New Jersey state senators Living people People from Dover, New Jersey People from Lawrence Township, Mercer County, New Jersey Politicians from Mercer County, New Jersey Rider University alumni Rutgers University alumni The College of New Jersey alumni Women state legislators in New Jersey 21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature