New Jersey's 9th legislative district is one of 40 in the New Jersey Legislature, covering the Ocean County municipalities of Barnegat Township, Barnegat Light Borough, Beach Haven Borough, Beachwood Borough, Berkeley Township, Eagleswood Township, Harvey Cedars Borough, Lacey Township, Lakehurst, New Jersey, Little Egg Harbor Township, Long Beach Township, Manchester, Ocean Township, Ocean Gate Borough, Pine Beach Borough, Ship Bottom Borough, Stafford Township, Surf City Borough and Tuckerton Borough.Districts by Number, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 29, 2014.About District 9, Senator Christopher J. Connors. Accessed January 22, 2020. "District 9 is the following towns: Barnegat Light; Barnegat Twp.; Bass River; Beach Haven; Beachwood; Berkeley; Eagleswood; Galloway; Harvey Cedars; Lacey; Little Egg Harbor; Long Beach; Ocean Gate; Ocean Twp.; Pine Beach; Port Republic; Seaside Park; Ship Bottom; South Toms River; Stafford; Surf City; Tabernacle; Tuckerton; Washington Twp."

Demographic characteristics As of the 2020 United States census, the district had a population of 235,539, of whom 194,652 (82.6%) were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 195,976 (83.2%) White, 9,031 (3.8%) African American, 564 (0.2%) Native American, 6,500 (2.8%) Asian, 71 (0.0%) Pacific Islander, 7,247 (3.1%) from some other race, and 16,150 (6.9%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 21,473 (9.1%) of the population.

The district had 193,047 registered voters as of December 1, 2021, of whom 73,377 (38.0%) were registered as unaffiliated, 70,287 (36.4%) were registered as Republicans, 46,730 (24.2%) were registered as Democrats, and 2,653 (1.4%) were registered to other parties.Statewide Voter Registration Summary, New Jersey Department of State, December 1, 2021. Accessed January 2, 2022.

Political representation

The legislative district overlaps with New Jersey's 2nd and New Jersey's 4th congressional districts.

1965–1973 During the period of time after the 1964 Supreme Court decision in Reynolds v. Sims and before the establishment of a 40-district legislature in 1973, the 9th district encompassed the entirety of Union County. Two Senators were elected in the 1965 election (Republican Nelson Stamler and Democrat Mildred Barry Hughes) while three were elected in the 1967 and 1971 elections. Republicans Nicholas S. LaCorte, Frank X. McDermott, and Matthew John Rinaldo won the 1967 election though LaCorte would resign on December 7, 1970 to become a tax appeals judge. Democrat Jerry Fitzgerald English would win a 1971 special election to complete LaCorte's term. Republicans would win the three seats in the regular 1971 election with Rinaldo, McDermott, and Jerome Epstein receiving the most votes in that election. Following Rinaldo's election to Congress in 1972 elections, Democrat William J. McCloud would be elected to complete Rinaldo's term in the Senate.

In the Assembly, for the 1967, 1969, and 1971 elections, Union County was divided into three districts (9A, 9B, and 9C) that each elected two members of the Assembly. In addition, in the 1967 and 1969 elections, one additional member of the Assembly was elected county-wide.

The members elected to the Assembly from each district are as follows: Session District 9A District 9B District 9C District 9 at-large 1968–1969 Joseph J. Higgins (D) Herbert J. Heilmann (R) Peter McDonough (R) Charles J. Irwin (R) Henry F. Gavan (D) Herbert H. Kiehn (R) Hugo Pfaltz (R) 1970–1971 Joseph J. Higgins (D) Herbert J. Heilmann (R)Resigned to become Assistant Commissioner of Labor on December 1, 1970 Peter McDonough (R) Charles J. Irwin (R)Resigned April 5, 1971 to become executive director of the New Jersey Office of Consumer Protection Elizabeth Cox (R)Elected in 1971 special election to complete Heilmann's unexpired term Henry F. Gavan (D) Hugo Pfaltz (R) Herbert H. Kiehn (R) 1972–1973 Joseph J. Higgins (D) C. Louis Bassano (R) Peter McDonough (R) Seat eliminated Alexander J. Menza (D) Herbert H. Kiehn (R) Arthur Manner (R)

District composition since 1973 Since the creation of 40 equal-population districts statewide in 1973, the 9th district has been based in and around Ocean County. For the 1973 district, the 9th consisted of most of Ocean County (all municipalities except Little Egg Harbor Township, Tuckerton, Manchester Township, Lakehurst, Point Pleasant, and Point Pleasant Beach), Woodland Township in Burlington County, and Millstone Township in Monmouth County. In the 1981 redistricting, the large townships of Lakewood, Brick, and Dover and other nearby small boroughs were removed but the remainder of Ocean County municipalities were added as well as Bass River Township and Burlington County's New Hanover Township, Wrightstown, and North Hanover. Jackson Township and Plumsted Township and the northern Burlington municipalities were shifted out of the 9th in the 1991 redistricting; more of southern Burlington was added including Tabernacle, Woodland, Washington, and Bass River townships and Egg Harbor City in Atlantic County were also added to the district for this decade. In the 2001 redistricting, the Ocean County portion of the district barely changed but only Washington and Bass River townships remained in Burlington County and the municipalities that made up the Atlantic County portion of the district were Hammonton and Folsom.

Election history Session Senate General Assembly 1974–1975 John F. Russo (D)John Paul Doyle (D)Daniel F. Newman (D) 1976–1977 John Paul Doyle (D)Daniel F. Newman (D) 1978–1979 John F. Russo (D)John Paul Doyle (D)Daniel F. Newman (D) 1980–1981 John Paul Doyle (D)Hazel Gluck (R) 1982–1983 Leonard T. Connors (R)John T. Hendrickson Jr. (R)Jorge A. Rod (R) 1984–1985 Leonard T. Connors (R)John T. Hendrickson Jr. (R)Jorge A. Rod (R)Jorge A. Rod (D) 1986–1987 John T. Hendrickson Jr. (R)Jeffrey Moran (R) 1988–1989 Leonard T. Connors (R)John T. Hendrickson Jr. (R)Resigned September 1, 1989 to become part of the Department of Community AffairsJeffrey Moran (R) 1990–1991 Christopher J. Connors (R)Jeffrey Moran (R) 1992–1993 Leonard T. Connors (R)Christopher J. Connors (R)Jeffrey Moran (R) 1994–1995 Leonard T. Connors (R)Christopher J. Connors (R)Jeffrey Moran (R) 1996–1997 Christopher J. Connors (R)Jeffrey Moran (R) 1998–1999 Leonard T. Connors (R)Christopher J. Connors (R)Jeffrey Moran (R) 2000–2001 Christopher J. Connors (R)Jeffrey Moran (R)2002–2003 Leonard T. Connors (R)Christopher J. Connors (R)Jeffrey Moran (R)Resigned June 17, 2003 to become Ocean County SurrogateBrian E. Rumpf (R)Appointed June 23, 2003 2004–2005 Leonard T. Connors (R)Christopher J. Connors (R)Brian E. Rumpf (R) 2006–2007 Christopher J. Connors (R)Brian E. Rumpf (R)2008–2009 Christopher J. Connors (R)Daniel Van Pelt (R)Resigned on July 31, 2009 following his arrest in relation to Operation Bid RigBrian E. Rumpf (R)DiAnne Gove (R)Appointed December 7, 2009 2010–2011 DiAnne Gove (R)Brian E. Rumpf (R) 2012–2013 Christopher J. Connors (R)DiAnne Gove (R)Brian E. Rumpf (R) 2014–2015 Christopher J. Connors (R)DiAnne Gove (R)Brian E. Rumpf (R) 2016–2017 DiAnne Gove (R)Brian E. Rumpf (R) 2018–2019 Christopher J. Connors (R)DiAnne Gove (R)Brian E. Rumpf (R) 2020–2021 DiAnne Gove (R)Brian E. Rumpf (R) 2022–2023 Christopher J. Connors (R)DiAnne Gove (R)Brian E. Rumpf (R) 2024–2025 Carmen Amato (R)Greg Myhre (R)Brian E. Rumpf (R) 2026–2027 Greg Myhre (R)Brian E. Rumpf (R)

Election results, 1973–present Senate

General Assembly

Election results, 1965–1973 Senate

General Assembly District 9A

District 9B

District 9C

District 9 at-large

References