New Jersey's 7th congressional district

New Jersey's 7th congressional district
District map as of 2013
Current Representative		Leonard Lance (R–Clinton Township)
Area	595.03 mi2 (1,541.13 km2)
Distribution	90.38% urban, 9.62% rural
Population (2009)	669,857
Median income	$48,556[1]
Ethnicity	79.0% White, 5.7% Black, 10.9% Asian, 10.4% Hispanic, 0.1% Native American, 3.1% other
Cook PVI	R+6

New Jersey's Seventh Congressional District is represented by Republican Leonard Lance.

Republican incumbent Leonard Lance will face off against challenger Peter Jacob on November 8th, 2016.

The district from 2003 to 2013

Counties and municipalities in the district

For the 113th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2010 United States Census), the congressional district contains portions of four counties and 54 municipalities.^[2]

Essex County:

Millburn (which includes the Short Hills neighborhood)

Hunterdon County (entire county):

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

Morris County:

Chester Borough, Chester Township, Dover, Long Hill Township, Mine Hill Township, Mount Arlington, Mount Olive Township, Netcong, Roxbury Township, Washington Township and Wharton

Somerset County:

Bedminster Township, Bernards Township, Bernardsville, Branchburg Township, Bridgewater Township, Far Hills, Green Brook Township, Hillsborough Township, Millstone, Montgomery Township, North Plainfield, Peapack-Gladstone, Raritan, Rocky Hill, Somerville, Warren Township and Watchung

Union County:

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

Warren County:

Alpha, Franklin Township, Greenwich Township, Harmony Township, Lopatcong Township, Phillipsburg and Pohatcong Township

Voting

House of Representatives elections

Presidential elections

Representatives

Representative	Party	Years	District home	Note
District created March 4, 1873
Isaac W. Scudder	Republican	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1875	Jersey City	Retired
Augustus Albert Hardenbergh	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1879	Jersey City	Retired
Lewis A. Brigham	Republican	March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1881	Jersey City	Lost re-election
Augustus Albert Hardenbergh	Democratic	March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1883	Jersey City	Retired
William McAdoo	Democratic	March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1891	Jersey City	Lost re-nomination
Edward F. McDonald	Democratic	March 4, 1891 – November 5, 1892	Harrison	Died in office
Vacant		November 5, 1892 – March 3, 1893
George Bragg Fielder	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895	Jersey City	Retired
Thomas McEwan, Jr.	Republican	March 4, 1895 – March 3, 1899	Jersey City	Retired
William Davis Daly	Democratic	March 4, 1899 – July 31, 1900	Hoboken	Died in office
Vacant		July 31, 1900 – December 3, 1900
Allan Langdon McDermott	Democratic	December 3, 1900 – March 3, 1903	Jersey City	Redistricted to the 10th district
Richard W. Parker	Republican	March 4, 1903 – March 3, 1911	Newark	Redistricted from the 6th district
Edward W. Townsend	Democratic	March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1913	Montclair	Redistricted to the 10th district
Robert G. Bremner	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – February 5, 1914	Totowa	Died in office
Vacant		February 5, 1914 – April 7, 1914
Dow H. Drukker	Republican	April 7, 1914 – March 3, 1919	Passaic	Retired
Amos H. Radcliffe	Republican	March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1923	Paterson	Lost re-election
George N. Seger	Republican	March 4, 1923 – March 3, 1933	Passaic	Redistricted to the 8th district
Randolph Perkins	Republican	March 4, 1933 – May 25, 1936	Woodcliff Lake	Died in office
Vacant		May 25, 1936 – January 3, 1937
J. Parnell Thomas	Republican	January 3, 1937 – January 2, 1950	Allendale	Resigned upon being convicted of fraud
Vacant		January 2, 1950 – February 6, 1950
William B. Widnall	Republican	February 6, 1950 – December 31, 1974	Hackensack	Lost re-election, resigned
Andrew Maguire	Democratic	January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1981	Ridgewood	Lost re-election
Marge Roukema	Republican	January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1983	Ridgewood	Redistricted to the 5th district
Matthew John Rinaldo	Republican	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1993	Union Township	Retired
Bob Franks	Republican	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 2001	Summit	Retired to run for U.S. Senate
Mike Ferguson	Republican	January 3, 2001 – January 3, 2009	Warren Township	Retired
Leonard Lance	Republican	January 3, 2009 – present	Clinton Township	Incumbent

History

In the 2012 general election, Republican incumbent Leonard Lance held his seat against Democratic challenger Upendra J. Chivukula.^[4] In the 2010 general election, Democratic challenger Ed Potosnak challenged Lance, but Lance defeated Potosnak by a margin of 59% to 41%. For the 2012 election, both Potosnak and former Edison Mayor Jun Choi announced their candidacies for the Democratic nomination.^[5][6] Choi dropped out of the race in December 2011 after redistricting left his Edison home outside the 7th District. Potosnak dropped out of the race in January 2012 to take a position as executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, leaving a momentarily empty field for the Democratic nomination.^[7]

In the 2008 election, Mike Ferguson (who had first been elected in 2000, replacing Bob Franks) did not seek another term. Linda Stender won the Democratic nomination unopposed, while Republican primary voters chose State Senator Leonard Lance in a field of eight candidates. In the 2008 general election, Lance defeated Assemblywoman Linda Stender by a margin of 25,833 votes and became the Congressman.^[8]

2006 election

Source: NJ Division of Elections. Official 2006 Election Results..

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.

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 tradeoff, 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.

District changes

The district has been progressing in a different direction in the past few years, turning from a once reliable Republican district to a competitive district. The district has become more mixed in terms of ethnic backgrounds with Caucasians now comprising, as of 2009, 79 percent of the racial makeup of the district, African Americans 5.7 percent, Asians 11 percent and Latinos 10 percent of the district. In addition, the district is home to a large group of foreign born residents, who totaled 131,000 or 20 percent of the population, in 2009.^[9]

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. 
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

Coordinates: 40°36′N 74°30′W / 40.60°N 74.50°W / 40.60; -74.50