Population  (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, NJ Division of Elections) Total Population, July 1, 2008 est. 8,682,661 Total Enrollment, Oct. 20, 2008 5,351,669 Dem. 1,782,556 (33.31%)   Rep. 1,055,403 (19.72%)   Unaffil. 2,511,367 (46.93%)  Grn. 953   Lib. 1,023   NLP 29   Ref. 67  Const. 117 New Jersey has: 21 counties. Largest counties: Bergen, Essex, Middlesex, Monmouth, Hudson. > Largest cities: Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth. > Government Governor: Jon Corzine (D) elected Nov. 2005.  State Legislature: New Jersey Legislature   House: 80 seats  Senate: 40 seats Local: Counties and Municipalities   NACO Counties U.S. House: 7D, 6R - 1. R.Andrews (D) | 2. F.LoBiondo (R) | 3. J.Saxton (R) | 4. C.Smith (R) | 5. S.Garrett (R) | 6. F.Pallone, Jr. (D) | 7. M.Ferguson (R) | 8. B.Pascrell, Jr (D) | 9. S.Rothman (D) | 10. D.Payne (D) | 11. R.Frelinghuysen (R) | 12. R.Holt (D) | 13. A.Sires (D). U.S. Senate: Frank Lautenberg (D) up for re-election in 2008, Bob Menendez (D) appointed; elected in Nov. 2006. 2008 update   U.S. Senate:  Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D) defeated former Rep. Dick Zimmer (R) by 1,951,218 votes (56.03%) to 1,461,025 (41.95%) and 70,202 votes (2.02%) for five other candidates.  U.S. House:  In the open 3rd CD (portions of Burlington, Camden, and Ocean counties), John Adler (D) defeated Chris Myers (R) by 166,390 (52.08%) votes to 153,122 votes (47.92%).  In the open 7th CD (north central New Jersey), Leonard Lance (R) defeated Linda Stender (D) by 148,461 votes (50.22%) to 124,818 votes (42.22%) and 22,349 (7.56%) for others.  The U.S. House delegation goes from 7D, 6R to 8D, 5R in the 111th Congress.    > Democrats pick up one U.S. House seat.  MORE

State of New Jersey Division of Elections Green Party of NJ NJ Democratic State Comm. NJ Libertarian Party NJ Republican State Comm. Constitution Party of NJ Star Ledger/Times Newspapers TV, Radio Politics1-NJ PoliticsNJ.com The Garden State

Setting the Primary Date
Part I: On July 7, 2005 Acting Governor Richard J. Codey (D) signed into law A30/S550 which establishes a separate presidential primary on the last Tuesday in February (the state primary remains in June).  Codey had highlighted the issue in his State of the State address on Jan. 11, 2005.  In prepared remarks he stated: "I am tired of being a bystander in the Presidential primaries.  I am tired of watching small states like Iowa and New Hampshire pick our presidential candidates.  I am sure that each state is a fine place to raise a family.  But they do not have the population, the diversity, and the concerns that we do.  New Jersey must move up its presidential primary. We've discussed this for years.  Now the time has come to make New Jersey a Presidential player instead of an ATM machine for Presidential candidates!"  The Assembly passed the legislation on June 20, 2005 by a vote of 66-6-6 and the Senate followed on June 23 in a 36 to 1 vote.  Sen. Joseph F. Vitale (D-Middlesex), a sponsor, stated at the bill signing, "The variety of issues that are debated during a Presidential campaign more closely mirror the interests that affect New Jerseyans every day.  New Jersey is in so many ways a microcosm reflecting the needs of the nation as a whole.  In the next race to the presidency, candidates will need the support of the Garden State to cement their standing as either party's pick for the presidential nomination, if they are to truly represent the needs and wishes of the people."  The Office of Legislative Services estimates the cost of a separate presidential primary at $10.3 million.

Part II: However, the last Tuesday in February was not early enough.  On Sept. 18, 2006 Sens. Richard J. Codey and Ellen Karcher introduced S2193 to change the date of presidential primary from the last Tuesday in February to the first Tuesday after first Monday in February.  The Senate voted to approve the bill on Dec. 4, 2006 by a vote of
33-5, the Assembly followed by a vote of 57-20-2 on March 15, and Gov. Jon Corzine (D) signed the measure on April 1, 2007.

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000

Voting Eligible Population*: 5,601,788. VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 56.9% Total ballots cast: 3,219,650  Total ballots rejected: 9,037 Registration:  Dem. 1,179,577 (25%)   Rep. 876,386 (18%)   Unaffil. 2,641,861 (56%)   Ind. 12,944 (1%)...  Total 4,710,768.

+Gore/Lieberman (Dem.) 1,788,850 (56.13) Bush/Cheney (Rep.) 1,284,173 (40.29) Nader/LaDuke (Grn.) 94,554 (2.97) Browne/Olivier (Lib.) 6,312 (0.20) Buchanan/Foster (Ref.) 6,989 (0.22) Hagelin/Ticiati (Ind.) 2,215 (0.07) McReynolds/Hollis (SPUSA) 1,880 (0.06) Phillips/Frazier (Const.) 1,409 (0.04) Harris/Trowe (SWP) 844 (0.03) Total........3,187,226

2000 Overview The Gore-Lieberman ticket won New Jersey with a plurality of 504,677 votes (15.84 percentage points), carrying 14 counties to 7 for Bush-Cheney (5 of which were in the northwest corner). Some Garden State Republicans believe a weak Bush state organization contributed to the poor showing and to down-ticket defeats.  In the U.S. Senate race, Jon Corzine (D) outspent Bob Franks (R) by $54.0 million to $3.8 million and won by 50.1% to 47.1% (1,511,237 to 1,420,267).  There were a couple of close House races: in the 12th Rep. Rush Holt (D) defeated former Rep. Dick Zimmer (R) by 651 votes (146,162 to 145,511); in the 7th Mike Ferguson (R) defeated Maryanne Connelly (D) by about 15,000 votes.  General Election Actitivities

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