New Jersey's 12th congressional district

New Jersey's 12th congressional district is represented by Democrat Bonnie Watson Coleman, who has served in Congress since 2015. The district is known for its research centers and educational institutions such as Princeton University, Rider University, The College of New Jersey, Institute for Advanced Study, Johnson & Johnson and Bristol-Myers Squibb. The district is primarily suburban in character, though it contains the state capital of Trenton as well as the smaller city of Plainfield.

"NJ-12" redirects here. NJ-12 may also refer to New Jersey Route 12.

New Jersey's 12th congressional district
District map as of 2013
Representative	Bonnie Watson Coleman D–Ewing Township
Distribution	97.6% urban 2.4% rural
Population (2017)	758,189
Median income	$85,595[1]
Ethnicity	59.3% white 18.4% Hispanic 17.9% black 16.8% Asian 3.6% other 0.1% Native American
Cook PVI	D+16[2]

History

The 12th congressional district (together with the 11th district) was created starting with the 63rd United States Congress in 1913, based on redistricting following the United States Census, 1910.

Historically, the 12th and its predecessors had been a swing district. However, redistricting following the 2000 United States Census gave the district a somewhat bluer hue than its predecessor. It absorbed most of Trenton, along with a number of other municipalities.

The redistricting made second-term Democrat Rush D. Holt Jr. considerably more secure; he had narrowly defeated freshman Republican Michael Pappas in 1998, and had only held on to his seat against Dick Zimmer (who represented the district from 1991 to 1997) by 651 votes in 2000. In 2002, despite an expensive challenge from former New Jersey Secretary of State Buster Soaries, Holt was re-elected with 61% of the vote.

Since then, the 12th has become a Democratic-leaning district, as measured by the Cook PVI.[3] In 2004, Holt was re-elected over real estate executive Bill Spadea (59–41%) and again in 2006 over former Helmetta Council President Joseph Sinagra (65–35%).

In 2008, Holt defeated Holmdel Township Deputy Mayor Alan Bateman (62–36%).

In 2010, while Democrats suffered huge House loses, Holt defeated Princeton venture capitalist Scott Sipprelle and Independent Kenneth J. Cody (53–46–1%).

The district became even more Democratic after redistricting following the 2010 census, as it lost its share of Republican-leaning Hunterdon County and Monmouth County, while being pushed further into strongly Democratic Middlesex County and gaining the overwhelmingly Democratic Union County town of Plainfield.

Holt retired in 2014, and was succeeded by State Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman.

Counties and municipalities in the district

A change was made by the New Jersey Redistricting Commission that took effect in January 2013 with the 113th United States Congress, based on the results of the 2010 United States Census. The district currently contains portions of four counties and 31 municipalities:[4]

Mercer County (10)

East Windsor Township, Ewing Township, Hightstown, Hopewell Borough, Hopewell Township, Lawrence Township, Pennington, Princeton, Trenton and West Windsor Township

Middlesex County (14)

Cranbury Township, Dunellen, East Brunswick Township, Helmetta, Jamesburg, Middlesex, Milltown, Monroe Township, North Brunswick Township, Old Bridge Township (part, also 6th), Plainsboro Township, South Brunswick Township, South River Borough, and Spotswood Borough

Somerset County (4)

Bound Brook, Franklin Township, Manville and South Bound Brook

Union County (3)

Fanwood, Plainfield, Scotch Plains (part, also 7th)

Recent election results

Presidential races

Year	Office	Results
2000	President	Gore 56 - 40%
2004	President	Kerry 54 - 46%
2008	President	Obama 58 - 41%
2012	President	Obama 66.5 - 32%
2016	President	Clinton 65 - 32%

List of members representing the district

Member	Party	Years	Cong ress	District Home	Electoral history	Counties/Towns
District created March 4, 1913
James A. Hamill	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1921	63rd 64th 65th 66th	Jersey City	Redistricted from the 10th district. [data unknown/missing]	parts of Jersey City
Charles F. X. O'Brien	Democratic	March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1925	67th 68th	Jersey City	[data unknown/missing]
Mary Teresa Norton	Democratic	March 4, 1925 – March 3, 1933	69th 70th 71st 72nd	Jersey City	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 13th district.
Frederick R. Lehlbach	Republican	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1937	73rd 74th	Newark	Redistricted from the 10th district. [data unknown/missing]	parts of Essex
Frank William Towey Jr.	Democratic	January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1939	75th	[data unknown/missing]	[data unknown/missing]
Robert Kean	Republican	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1959	76th 77th 78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th	Livingston	[data unknown/missing]
George M. Wallhauser	Republican	January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1965	86th 87th 88th	Maplewood	[data unknown/missing]
Paul J. Krebs	Democratic	January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1967	89th	[data unknown/missing]	[data unknown/missing]
Florence P. Dwyer	Republican	January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1973	90th 91st 92nd	[data unknown/missing]	Redistricted from the 6th district. [data unknown/missing]	parts of Essex and Union
Matthew John Rinaldo	Republican	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1983	93rd 94th 95th 96th 97th	Union Township	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 7th district.	parts of Union
Jim Courter	Republican	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1985	98th 99th 100th 101st	Hackettstown	Redistricted from the 13th district. [data unknown/missing]	parts of Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren
		January 3, 1985 – January 3, 1991				Hunterdon and parts of Mercer (Princeton and West Windsor), Middlesex, Morris, Somerset, Sussex, and Warren
Dick Zimmer	Republican	January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1993	102nd 103rd 104th	Delaware	[data unknown/missing] Retired to run for U.S. Senator
		January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1997				parts of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Somerset
Michael James Pappas	Republican	January 3, 1997 – January 3, 1999	105th	Franklin (Somerset)	[data unknown/missing]
Rush D. Holt Jr.	Democratic	January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2003	106th 107th 108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th	Hopewell Township (Mercer)	[data unknown/missing]
		January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2013				parts of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Somerset
		January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2015				Mercer (except Hamilton and Robbinsville), Middlesex (Cranbury, Dunellen, East Brunswick, Helmetta, Jamesburg, Middlesex, Milltown, Monroe, North Brunswick, Plainsboro, South Brunswick, South River, and Spotswood), Somerset (Bound Brook, Franklin Township, Manville and South Bound Brook), and Union (Fanwood, Plainfield, and part of Scotch Plains)
Bonnie Watson Coleman	Democratic	January 3, 2015 – present	114th 115th 116th	Ewing	[data unknown/missing]

References

1. https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=34&cd=12
2. "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
3. Barone, Michael; Richard E. Cohen (2008). The Almanac of American Politics. Washington, D.C.: National Journal Group and Atlantic Media Company. pp. 14, 1084. ISBN 978-0-89234-117-7.
4. Plan Components Report, New Jersey Redistricting Commission, December 23, 2011. Accessed November 6, 2016.

• 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