Politics of New Jersey

United States presidential election results for New Jersey

Year	Republican / Whig		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	1,883,313	41.25%	2,608,400	57.14%	73,469	1.61%
2016	1,601,933	41.00%	2,148,278	54.99%	156,512	4.01%
2012	1,478,749	40.50%	2,126,610	58.25%	45,781	1.25%
2008	1,613,207	41.61%	2,215,422	57.14%	48,778	1.26%
2004	1,670,003	46.23%	1,911,430	52.92%	30,704	0.85%
2000	1,284,173	40.29%	1,788,850	56.13%	114,203	3.58%
1996	1,103,078	35.86%	1,652,329	53.72%	320,400	10.42%
1992	1,356,865	40.58%	1,436,206	42.95%	550,523	16.47%
1988	1,743,192	56.24%	1,320,352	42.60%	36,009	1.16%
1984	1,933,630	60.09%	1,261,323	39.20%	22,909	0.71%
1980	1,546,557	51.97%	1,147,364	38.56%	281,763	9.47%
1976	1,509,688	50.08%	1,444,653	47.92%	60,131	1.99%
1972	1,845,502	61.57%	1,102,211	36.77%	49,516	1.65%
1968	1,325,467	46.10%	1,264,206	43.97%	285,722	9.94%
1964	963,843	33.86%	1,867,671	65.61%	15,256	0.54%
1960	1,363,324	49.16%	1,385,415	49.96%	24,372	0.88%
1956	1,606,942	64.68%	850,337	34.23%	27,033	1.09%
1952	1,374,613	56.81%	1,015,902	41.99%	29,039	1.20%
1948	981,124	50.33%	895,455	45.93%	72,976	3.74%
1944	961,335	48.95%	987,874	50.31%	14,552	0.74%
1940	945,475	47.93%	1,016,808	51.55%	10,269	0.52%
1936	720,322	39.57%	1,083,850	59.54%	16,265	0.89%
1932	775,684	47.59%	806,630	49.48%	47,749	2.93%
1928	926,050	59.77%	616,517	39.79%	6,814	0.44%
1924	675,162	62.17%	297,743	27.41%	113,174	10.42%
1920	611,541	67.65%	256,887	28.42%	35,515	3.93%
1916	268,982	54.40%	211,018	42.68%	14,442	2.92%
1912	88,835	20.53%	178,289	41.20%	165,615	38.27%
1908	265,326	56.79%	182,567	39.08%	19,305	4.13%
1904	245,164	56.68%	164,566	38.05%	22,817	5.28%
1900	221,754	55.27%	164,879	41.10%	14,573	3.63%
1896	221,535	59.68%	133,695	36.02%	15,981	4.31%
1892	156,101	46.24%	171,066	50.67%	10,456	3.10%
1888	144,360	47.52%	151,508	49.87%	7,933	2.61%
1884	123,440	47.31%	127,798	48.98%	9,683	3.71%
1880	120,555	49.02%	122,565	49.84%	2,808	1.14%
1876	103,517	47.01%	115,962	52.66%	714	0.32%
1872	91,656	54.52%	76,456	45.48%	0	0.00%
1868	80,131	49.12%	83,001	50.88%	0	0.00%
1864	60,723	47.16%	68,024	52.84%	0	0.00%
1860	58,346	48.13%	62,869	51.87%	0	0.00%
1856	28,338	28.51%	46,943	47.23%	24,115	24.26%
1852	38,556	46.33%	44,305	53.24%	359	0.43%
1848	40,015	51.48%	36,901	47.47%	819	1.05%
1844	38,318	50.46%	37,495	49.37%	131	0.17%
1840	33,351	51.74%	31,034	48.15%	69	0.11%
1836	26,137	50.53%	25,592	49.47%	0	0.00%

New Jersey is one of the fifty U.S. states. The state is considered a stronghold of the Democratic Party and has supported the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since 1992. Democrats have also controlled both chambers of the state legislature since 2004. New Jersey currently has two Democratic United States senators. New Jersey's Class I Senate seat has been Democratic since 1959 (aside from the eight-month tenure of Nicholas F. Brady in 1982). New Jersey's Class II Senate seat has been Democratic since 1979 (aside from the four-month tenure of Jeffrey Chiesa in 2013). In addition, New Jersey's House congressional delegation has had a Democratic majority since 1965, except for a period between 1995-1999 and 2013-2017. As of July 1, 2020, there were more registered Democrats than unaffiliated voters for the first time in history, as there are more Democrats than Republicans as well.

History

Main article: History of New Jersey

American Revolution

In 1776, the first constitution of New Jersey was drafted. Written during the American Revolution, it created a basic framework for state government and allowed "all inhabitants of this Colony, of full age, who are worth fifty pounds proclamation money" to vote (including blacks, spinsters, and widows); married women could not own property under common law. The constitution declared itself temporary and void if there was reconciliation with Great Britain. Both parties in elections mocked the other party for relying on "petticoat electors", and accused each other of allowing unqualified women to vote. The state voted for Washington in 1789 and 1792, as well as Adams in 1796.

Nineteenth century

The second version of the constitution was adopted on June 29, 1844, and restricted suffrage to white males. Important components of the second state constitution included the separation of powers among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The new constitution also provided a bill of rights, and granted voters (instead of the legislature) the right to elect the governor. Throughout the century, the state voted for the Federalist Party twice, the Democratic-Republican Party five times, the National Republican Party once, the Whig Party four times, the Democratic Party ten times, and the Republican Party three times.

Twentieth century

From 1894 to 1973, Republicans usually controlled both houses of the state legislature (with the exceptions of 1907, 1911, 1913–1914, 1932, 1937, 1958–1963, 1966–1967). From 1900 to 1944, New Jersey voted for Democrats five times, and voted for Republicans seven times. After World War II, New Jersey was a Republican-leaning swing state in presidential elections; from the 1948 to the 1988, Republican candidates won nine out of eleven elections. John F. Kennedy won New Jersey in 1960 by 22,000 votes, and Lyndon B. Johnson won in 1964 as a part of his landslide victory. Although New Jersey had several highly populated Democratic urban areas such as Camden, Newark, and Jersey City, the state was also becoming home to suburbs of New York City and Philadelphia. Voters in suburban New Jersey were overwhelmingly white, and more likely to vote Republican. From 1943 to 1979, New Jersey was represented in the US Senate by a Democrat and a Republican.

Since 1992, New Jersey has voted for Democrats in every presidential election. Bill Clinton won a plurality of New Jersey's popular vote that year, and a majority of New Jersey's popular vote in 1996. Among Republican New Jersey voters, those living in rural parts of the state tended to vote for conservative Republicans; suburban voters tended to prefer liberal, or moderate, Republicans. During the 1980s, a significant number of Asian-Americans immigrated to the northeastern and central parts of the state and tended to vote Democratic.

Twenty-first century

Since 2002, the New Jersey Legislature has been overwhelmingly Democratic; in April 2020, there were over 994,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans. Democrats tend to do well in areas near New York City, Philadelphia, and Trenton, and cities such as Jersey City, Newark, Camden, Elizabeth, Trenton, and Paterson are overwhelmingly Democratic. These cities influence their respective counties (namely Hudson, Essex, Camden, Union, Mercer, and Passaic) to vote Democratic. Predominantly suburban and rural counties, especially those along the Jersey Shore and in northwestern New Jersey, tend to vote Republican; these include counties such as Ocean, Warren, Cape May and Hunterdon. Other counties, such as Atlantic, Morris, and Cumberland, are considered "swing" counties; they tend to vote closely within the margins of each party, swaying in one direction or the other with each election.

Statistics

The 2016 presidential election in New Jersey was won by Democrat Hillary Clinton in 12 counties, while Republican Donald Trump won nine counties; overall, Clinton carried the state with a vote percentage of 55.45 to 41.35 percent. Trump won two counties (Gloucester and Salem) which had voted Democratic in 2012. Every county voted identically in 2016 and the 2017 gubernatorial election with the exception of Gloucester, which flipped back to Democratic. In the 2018 Senate election, Atlantic and Gloucester Counties flipped Republican. In the 2020 presidential election, Biden flipped Atlantic, Gloucester, and Morris counties from the 2018 elections.

County votes for 2016 Presidential, 2017 Gubernatorial, 2018 Senate, 2020 Presidential, 2020 Senate, and 2021 Gubernatorial

County	2016 Presidential	2017 Gubernatorial	2018 Senate	2020 Presidential	2020 Senate	2021 Gubernatorial
Atlantic	Clinton	Murphy	Hugin	Biden	Booker	Ciattarelli
Bergen	Clinton	Murphy	Menendez	Biden	Booker	Murphy
Burlington	Clinton	Murphy	Menendez	Biden	Booker	Murphy
Camden	Clinton	Murphy	Menendez	Biden	Booker	Murphy
Cape May	Trump	Guadagno	Hugin	Trump	Mehta	Ciattarelli
Cumberland	Clinton	Murphy	Menendez	Biden	Booker	Ciattarelli
Essex	Clinton	Murphy	Menendez	Biden	Booker	Murphy
Gloucester	Trump	Murphy	Hugin	Biden	Booker	Ciattarelli
Hudson	Clinton	Murphy	Menendez	Biden	Booker	Murphy
Hunterdon	Trump	Guadagno	Hugin	Trump	Mehta	Ciattarelli
Mercer	Clinton	Murphy	Menendez	Biden	Booker	Murphy
Middlesex	Clinton	Murphy	Menendez	Biden	Booker	Murphy
Monmouth	Trump	Guadagno	Hugin	Trump	Mehta	Ciattarelli
Morris	Trump	Guadagno	Hugin	Biden	Booker	Ciattarelli
Ocean	Trump	Guadagno	Hugin	Trump	Mehta	Ciattarelli
Passaic	Clinton	Murphy	Menendez	Biden	Booker	Murphy
Salem	Trump	Guadagno	Hugin	Trump	Mehta	Ciattarelli
Somerset	Clinton	Murphy	Menendez	Biden	Booker	Murphy
Sussex	Trump	Guadagno	Hugin	Trump	Mehta	Ciattarelli
Union	Clinton	Murphy	Menendez	Biden	Booker	Murphy
Warren	Trump	Guadagno	Hugin	Trump	Mehta	Ciattarelli

Nine counties (Burlington, Camden, Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, Passaic, and Union) have a plurality of Democratic registrants, and five (Cape May, Hunterdon, Morris, Sussex, and Warren) have a plurality of Republican registrants; the remaining seven have a majority of unaffiliated voters. Of those with an unaffiliated majority, four counties have more Democrats than Republicans (Atlantic, Bergen, Cumberland and Somerset) and four counties (Monmouth, Morris, Ocean and Salem) have more Republicans than Democrats.

Two counties (Essex and Hudson) have an absolute majority of their registrants in one party (Democratic). The highest percentage of unaffiliated voters is in Cumberland at 39.4 percent. The highest percentage of Democrats is in Hudson at 54.4 percent, the highest percentage of Republicans is in Cape May at 43 percent, and the highest percentage registered in other parties is in Cumberland at 1.9 percent. The lowest percentage of unaffiliated is in Cape May at 31.1 percent, Democrats is in Ocean at 21.7 percent, Republicans is in Essex at 10.3 percent, and other parties is a tie between Essex and Hunterdon at 0.9 percent each. The county with the closest Democratic-Republican percentages spread is Salem at 0.3 percent. The county with the largest Democratic-Republican percentage spread is Hudson at 43.4 percent. Bergen County has the largest number of registered voters at 677,213, and Salem County has the least at 49,063.

1992–present monthly registration statistics

Historic voter registration statistics on specific months

Month	Unaffiliated	Una %	Democratic	Dem %	Republican	Rep %	Other	O %	Total
Nov. 1992	2,060,989	50.76%	1,175,141	28.94%	817,837	20.14%	6,470	0.16%	4,060,337
Nov. 1998	2,513,962	55.38%	1,141,593	25.15%	872,349	19.22%	11,040	0.24%	4,538,944
Nov. 2000	2,641,861	56.08%	1,179,577	25.04%	876,386	18.60%	12,944	0.27%	4,710,768
Nov. 2005	2,760,558	57.12%	1,157,177	23.94%	893,854	18.49%	21,236	0.44%	4,832,825
Nov. 2010	2,441,291	46.29%	1,755,501	33.28%	1,074,364	20.37%	2,937	0.06%	5,274,093
Nov. 2015	2,605,919	48.11%	1,747,551	32.26%	1,058,277	19.54%	4,816	0.09%	5,416,563
Nov. 2016	2,518,824	43.23%	2,076,528	35.64%	1,213,075	20.82%	17,690	0.30%	5,826,116
Nov. 2017	2,362,630	41.02%	2,122,472	36.85%	1,241,674	21.56%	32,519	0.56%	5,759,295
Nov. 2018	2,394,968	40.30%	2,216,958	37.30%	1,285,034	21.62%	45,720	0.77%	5,942,680
Nov. 2019	2,386,164	39.06%	2,315,853	37.91%	1,334,550	21.84%	72,682	1.19%	6,109,249
Nov. 2020	2,440,416	37.54%	2,529,575	38.91%	1,450,137	22.31%	79,707	1.22%	6,499,835
Nov. 2021	2,416,345	36.70%	2,577,146	39.14%	1,508,212	22.91%	81,835	1.24%	6,583,538
Nov. 2022	2,372,156	36.42%	2,532,844	38.88%	1,528,001	23.45%	81,060	1.24%	6,514,061
Jan. 2023	2,379,791	36.47%	2,534,905	38.84%	1,530,185	23.45%	81,126	1.24%	6,526,007
Apr. 2023	2,383,203	36.49%	2,533,035	38.78%	1,534,241	23.49%	80,826	1.24%	6,531,305
Jul. 2023	2,375,234	36.21%	2,547,517	38.84%	1,555,014	23.71%	80,447	1.23%	6,558,212
Nov. 2023	2,367,992	36.47%	2,504,294	38.57%	1,541,158	23.74%	79,090	1.22%	6,492,534
Dec. 2023	2,375,358	36.54%	2,503,172	38.50%	1,542,994	23.73%	79,132	1.22%	6,500,656
Jan. 2024	2,385,821	36.64%	2,500,412	38.40%	1,545,797	23.74%	79,139	1.21%	6,511,169
Feb. 2024	2,399,196	36.77%	2,496,518	38.26%	1,549,728	23.75%	79,290	1.21%	6,524,732

Recent registration statistics

Voter registration by county on February 1, 2024

County	Unaffiliated	Una %	Democratic	Dem %	Republican	Rep %	Other	O %	Total
Atlantic	71,806	35.58%	69,292	34.33%	57,856	28.67%	2,861	1.42%	201,815
Bergen	261,314	38.75%	253,382	37.57%	152,932	22.68%	6,709	0.99%	674,337
Burlington	123,701	34.21%	139,877	38.68%	93,709	25.91%	4,329	1.20%	361,616
Camden	134,992	34.90%	181,109	46.82%	65,356	16.89%	5,358	1.39%	386,815
Cape May	23,514	31.22%	18,231	24.21%	32,643	43.35%	917	1.22%	75,305
Cumberland	38,273	39.90%	32,047	33.41%	23,774	24.78%	1,834	1.91%	95,928
Essex	213,331	37.06%	296,440	51.49%	60,510	10.51%	5,406	0.94%	575,687
Gloucester	75,931	33.84%	84,420	37.62%	61,080	27.22%	2,938	1.31%	224,369
Hudson	137,002	33.65%	218,491	53.66%	45,978	11.29%	5,714	1.40%	407,185
Hunterdon	32,638	30.71%	30,158	28.38%	42,491	39.98%	984	0.92%	106,271
Mercer	99,602	37.99%	117,792	44.93%	41,112	15.68%	3,651	1.39%	262,157
Middlesex	228,223	39.51%	241,109	41.74%	101,057	17.50%	7,160	1.24%	577,549
Monmouth	196,664	39.59%	139,868	28.16%	154,458	31.09%	5,742	1.16%	496,732
Morris	132,966	34.27%	116,612	30.06%	134,500	34.67%	3,865	1.00%	387,943
Ocean	181,157	38.56%	98,102	20.88%	184,611	39.30%	5,934	1.26%	469,804
Passaic	126,169	38.27%	127,392	38.64%	71,495	21.69%	4,633	1.40%	329,689
Salem	18,335	37.55%	14,469	29.63%	15,210	31.15%	815	1.67%	48,829
Somerset	98,679	38.58%	90,394	35.34%	64,028	25.03%	2,686	1.05%	255,787
Sussex	40,451	34.17%	26,335	22.24%	49,785	42.06%	1,713	1.45%	118,374
Union	137,638	36.05%	177,877	46.58%	61,834	16.19%	4,487	1.17%	381,836
Warren	26,810	30.92%	23,121	26.67%	35,309	40.72%	1,464	1.69%	86,704
Total	2,399,196	36.77%	2,496,518	38.26%	1,549,728	23.75%	79,290	1.21%	6,524,732

Eight districts- the 1st, 3rd, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th- have a majority of Democratic registrants, and zero have a majority of Republican registrants; the remaining four have a majority of unaffiliated voters. Of those with an unaffiliated majority, three districts have more Republicans than Democrats- 2nd, 4th, and 7th- and one district- the 5th- has more Democrats than Republicans.

Districts 8 and 10 have an absolute majority of their registrants in one party (Democratic). The highest percentage of unaffiliated voters is in District 4 at 38.9 percent. The highest percentage of Democrats is in District 10 at 55.5 percent; the highest percentage of Republicans is in District 4 at 36.8 percent, and the highest percentage registered in other parties is a tie between District 2, District 6, District 8, and District 9 at 1.4 percent each. The lowest percentage of unaffiliated is in District 8 at 34.1 percent, Democrats is in District 4 at 22.9 percent, Republicans is in District 10 at 8.1 percent, and other parties is in District 11 at 0.8 percent each. The district with the largest Democratic-Republican percentage spread is District 10 at 47.4 percent. The district with the smallest Democratic-Republican percentage spread is District 2 at 0.9 percent. District 7 has the largest number of registered voters at 619,375 and District 8 has the least at 403,953.

Voter registration by congressional district on January 1, 2024

District	Unaffiliated	Una %	Democratic	Dem %	Republican	Rep %	Other	O %	Total
1	195,036	34.41%	253,325	44.70%	110,622	19.52%	7,787	1.37%	566,770
2	207,511	35.99%	174,916	30.34%	185,673	32.20%	8,458	1.47%	576,558
3	218,997	36.50%	216,442	36.07%	157,524	26.25%	7,026	1.17%	599,989
4	222,264	38.77%	129,001	22.50%	215,157	37.53%	6,807	1.19%	573,229
5	217,580	37.54%	204,549	35.29%	151,740	26.18%	5,762	0.99%	579,631
6	197,278	38.94%	207,385	40.93%	95,126	18.78%	6,847	1.35%	506,636
7	213,682	34.59%	190,282	30.80%	207,037	33.52%	6,723	1.09%	617,724
8	140,974	34.70%	215,104	52.94%	44,609	10.98%	5,586	1.37%	406,273
9	181,711	39.03%	189,016	40.60%	88,226	18.95%	6,560	1.41%	465,513
10	176,690	35.57%	272,518	54.87%	41,442	8.34%	6,036	1.21%	496,686
11	211,556	35.50%	221,016	37.09%	158,194	26.55%	5,103	0.86%	595,869
12	202,542	38.48%	226,858	43.10%	90,447	17.18%	6,444	1.22%	526,291
Total	2,385,821	36.64%	2,500,412	38.40%	1,545,797	23.74%	79,139	1.21%	6,511,169

Federal representation

Main article: New Jersey's congressional districts

Following each decennial census, the New Jersey Redistricting Commission forms to realign the districts. New Jersey currently has 12 House districts In the 118th Congress, 9 of New Jersey's seats are held by Democrats and 3 are held by Republicans. There are as follows:

• New Jersey's 1st congressional district represented by Donald Norcross (D)
• New Jersey's 2nd congressional district represented by Jeff Van Drew (R)
• New Jersey's 3rd congressional district represented by Andy Kim (D)
• New Jersey's 4th congressional district represented by Chris Smith (R)
• New Jersey's 5th congressional district represented by Josh Gottheimer (D)
• New Jersey's 6th congressional district represented by Frank Pallone (D)
• New Jersey's 7th congressional district represented by Tom Kean Jr. (R)
• New Jersey's 8th congressional district represented by Rob Menendez (D)
• New Jersey's 9th congressional district represented by Bill Pascrell (D)
• New Jersey's 10th congressional district represented by Donald Payne Jr. (D)
• New Jersey's 11th congressional district represented by Mikie Sherrill (D)
• New Jersey's 12th congressional district represented by Bonnie Watson Coleman (D)

New Jersey's two United States Senators are Democrats Bob Menendez and Cory Booker, serving since 2006 and 2013, respectively.

New Jersey is part of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in the federal judiciary. The district's cases are appealed to the Philadelphia-based United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Issues

See also: Cannabis in New Jersey

The most contentious recent issue in New Jersey has been the conflict between the state government and public-sector unions. The unions, allied with the Democratic Party, believed that their workers were entitled to pensions and healthcare which had been promised to them in the past. Moderate Democrats and Republicans believed that the state could no longer afford to pay for benefits it had promised public workers in the past.

Property taxes are also an issue, since the state has the nation's highest property tax. New Jersey is a densely-populated, high-income, high-cost-of-living state, with more money needed for infrastructure and transportation, and it does not allow counties and municipalities to impose local income or sales taxes. Property taxes fund local government, schools and county expenses, making lowering it difficult.

Legalized gambling is also an issue. In 2011, Governor Chris Christie and Senate President Steve Sweeney promised to limit gambling to Atlantic City for "at least five years" to protect the struggling tourist destination from intrastate competition. Developers are pressuring the legislature to allow gambling in other parts of the state, such as the Meadowlands. New Jersey challenged the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 2014, which had grandfathered Nevada's federal statutory monopoly on legal sports betting. The Supreme Court overturned the appellate-court decision, removing the final barrier to New Jersey sports betting on May 14, 2018. Justice Samuel Alito wrote the opinion supporting New Jersey's assertion that the PASPA infringed on the state's Tenth Amendment rights in Murphy vs. Collegiate Athletic Association. The state quickly moved to capitalize on the ruling and allow sports betting at state-sanctioned sportsbooks at the Meadowlands Racetrack.

In 2010, New Jersey legalized medical cannabis. The law, legalizing the drug for medical use, was passed by a Democratic government just before Christie (who was skeptical about legalized medical marijuana) took office. Christie subsequently vetoed, or requested alterations to, laws expanding the state's program. (New Jersey has two dispensaries.) The issue gained attention during the 2013 gubernatorial election, when the father of a young girl with epilepsy confronted Christie at a diner. In March 2019, a vote on recreational legalization was canceled at the last minute. The state senate did not have the 21 votes needed to pass, since all of its Republicans and nine of its Democrats opposed the bill. A ballot measure to legalize marijuana for recreational use was on the ballot on November 3, 2020. Named Public Question 1, it passed overwhelmingly 67%-33%, with every county supporting legalization.

On October 21, 2019, weeks after California passed a similar bill, state Senators Joseph Lagana (D-Bergen) and Sandra Cunningham (D-Hudson) introduced the New Jersey Fair Play Act. The bill would allow college athletes to be paid for the use of their names, images and likeness, and to hire an agent or lawyer. It intends to protect student athletes, since one injury can cost them their scholarship without a way to pay for school or vocational guidance.

On February 4, 2019, Governor Phil Murphy signed a $15-minimum-wage bill into law. The law will increase the minimum wage by $1 every January 1 until it reaches $15 in 2024. When it was enacted, the state's minimum wage was $8.85. The first increase was on July 1, 2019 (to $10), and it will become $12 on January 1, 2021. The bill raises tipped-worker wages from $2.13 to $5.13 per hour; if a worker does not earn the minimum wage through tips, the employer must make up the difference. Farm-workers will only be raised to $12.50 an hour in 2024, then possibly raise it to $15 by 2027.

LGBT rights

In April 2004, New Jersey enacted a domestic-partnership law which is available to same- and opposite-sex couples aged 62 and over. In 2006, the Supreme Court of New Jersey ordered the state to provide the rights and benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples. The following year, New Jersey became the third state in the U.S. (after Connecticut and Vermont) to offer civil unions to same-sex couples. In 2013, the state supreme court ruled that New Jersey must allow same-sex couples to marry. A 2010 last-minute attempt to legalize same-sex marriage under outgoing Democratic governor failed because of objections by Senate President Steve Sweeney (also a Democrat). From 2010 to 2013, Governor Christie vetoed attempts by the state legislature to legalize same-sex marriage. Since the 2013 New Jersey Supreme Court ruling, three government-recognized relationships have been in effect in the state: domestic partnerships, civil unions, and marriage.

Gun control

New Jersey has some of the country's strictest gun control laws in the nation..

See also

• Government of New Jersey
• Political party strength in New Jersey
• Elections in New Jersey
• Law of New Jersey