New Jersey's 7th congressional district

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

New Jersey's 7th congressional district
Population (2000)	647,258
Median income	$74,823
Ethnic composition	83.4% White, 4.6% Black, 8.2% Asian, 6.9% Hispanic, 0.1% Native American, 0.7% other
Cook PVI	R+1

New Jersey's Seventh Congressional District is currently represented by Republican Mike Ferguson. In 2006, Ferguson narrowly defeated Democratic Party nominee Linda Stender, an Assemblywoman and former Union County Freeholder and Fanwood mayor.

In the 2008 election, Ferguson is not seeking another term. Stender won the Democratic nomination unopposed, while Republican primary voters chose State Senator Leonard Lance in a field of eight candidates.

Contents 1 Counties and municipalities in the district 2 2006 Election 2.1 Major Issues in 2006 Race 2.2 Effect of redistricting

[edit] Counties and municipalities in the district

For the 108th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2000 Census), the district contains portions of four counties and 54 municipalities.

Hunterdon County:

Alexandria Township, Bethlehem Township, Bloomsbury, Califon, Clinton, Clinton Township, Flemington, Glen Gardner, Hampton, High Bridge, Holland Township, Lebanon, Lebanon Township, Milford, Raritan Township, Readington, Tewksbury Township, Union Township

Middlesex County:

Edison (part), South Plainfield, Woodbridge Township (part)

Somerset County:

Bedminster Township, Bound Brook, Branchburg Township, Bridgewater Township (part), Far Hills, Green Brook Township, Hillsborough Township, Manville, Millstone, Montgomery Township, North Plainfield, Peapack-Gladstone, Rocky Hill, South Bound Brook, Warren Township, Watchung

Union County:

Berkeley Heights, Clark, Cranford, Fanwood, Garwood, Kenilworth, Linden (part), Mountainside, New Providence, Roselle Park, Scotch Plains, Springfield, Summit, Union Township (part), Westfield, Winfield

[edit] 2006 Election

Party	Candidate	Votes Won	Percent Won
Republican	Ferguson (Incumbent)	98,399 votes	49.42%
Democrat	Stender	95,454 votes	47.94%
Other	Abrams	3,176 votes	1.59%
Libertarian	Young	2,046 votes	1.02%

Source: NJ Division of Elections. Official 2006 Election Results.[1].

[edit] Major Issues in 2006 Race

Linda Stender campaigned on the issues of stem cell research and the Iraq War, while Mike Ferguson campaigned on the issues of Ms. Stender's prior legislative record and her close ties to New Jersey's Democratic political machine.

[edit] Effect of redistricting

New Jersey's 7th district and the 12th district were redistricted after the 2000 census by a bipartisan panel. By consensus of the panel, the Democratic and Republican parties agreed to trade areas in the two districts to make them safer for their respective incumbents. It is likely that this trade off, which made New Jersey's 7th less competitive for Democrats had an effect on the outcome of 2006 election, which was decided by approximately 3,000 votes. Areas of the former 7th district such as Somerset in Franklin Township (Somerset County) that have historically voted reliably Democratic were moved into the 12th district to shore up the Democratic incumbent's hold on the adjacent 12th district. Despite the redistricting, NJ-07 is still the most competitive House district in New Jersey, and was the only one considered to be in play in 2006 by political pundits.

v • d • e New Jersey's congressional districts At-large 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 The At-large and 14th and 15th districts are obsolete. See also: New Jersey's past & present Representatives, Senators, and Delegations All U.S. districts – Apportionment – Redistricting – Gerrymandering – Maps