New Jersey's 31st legislative district is one of 40 districts that make up the map for the New Jersey Legislature. It covers the Hudson County municipalities of Bayonne, Kearny, and most of Jersey City.
Demographic information As of the 2020 United States census, the district had a population of 260,634, of whom 206,103 (79.1%) were of voting age. The racial makeup of the district was 81,195 (31.2%) White, 58,329 (22.4%) African American, 1,564 (0.6%) Native American, 56,549 (21.7%) Asian, 155 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 36,894 (14.2%) from some other race, and 25,948 (10.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 65,872 (25.3%) of the population.
The district had 156,818 registered voters , of whom 54,099 (34.5%) were registered as unaffiliated, 85,197 (54.3%) were registered as Democrats, 14,795 (9.4%) were registered as Republicans, and 2,727 (1.7%) were registered to other parties.Statewide Voter Registration Summary, New Jersey Department of State, December 1, 2021. Accessed December 26, 2021.
Political representation
The legislative district overlaps with New Jersey's 8th, New Jersey's 9th, and 10th congressional districts.
Apportionment history Throughout the entire history of the 31st district since 1973, the district always consisted of Bayonne and southern Jersey City. In order to fulfill the requirement that legislative districts be made as equal in population as possible, wards were added and removed as necessary from Jersey City to get the necessary population. As the district was always heavily urban in nature and is closely associated with the Hudson County Democratic machine, no Republican has ever been elected to the district since its creation in 1973; one of nine districts statewide to have never sent a member of another party to the Legislature.
Election history Session Senate General Assembly 1974–1975 James P. Dugan (D)Joseph A. LeFante (D)William O. Perkins (D) 1976–1977 Joseph A. LeFante (D)Resigned on January 3, 1977 to take seat in CongressWilliam O. Perkins (D)Stephen R. Kopycinski (D)Elected in June 1977 special election, sworn in on June 27, 1977 1978–1979 Wally Sheil (D)Patrick C. Pasculli (D) Charles Mays (D) 1980–1981 Joseph Doria (D) Charles Mays (D) 1982–1983 Edward T. O'Connor, Jr. (D)Joseph Doria (D)Joseph Charles (D) 1984–1985 Edward T. O'Connor, Jr. (D)Joseph Doria (D)Joseph Charles (D) 1986–1987 Joseph Doria (D)Joseph Charles (D) 1988–1989 Edward T. O'Connor, Jr. (D)Joseph Doria (D)Joseph Charles (D) 1990–1991 Joseph Doria (D)Joseph Charles (D) 1992–1993 Edward T. O'Connor, Jr. (D)Joseph Doria (D)Joseph Charles (D) 1994–1995 Edward T. O'Connor, Jr. (D)Joseph Doria (D)Joseph Charles (D) 1996–1997 Joseph Doria (D)Joseph Charles (D) 1998–1999 Edward T. O'Connor, Jr. (D)Joseph Doria (D)Joseph Charles (D) 2000–2001 Joseph Doria (D)Joseph Charles (D)2002–2003 Joseph Charles (D)Resigned August 18, 2003 to become a Superior Court judgeJoseph Doria (D)Elba Perez-Cinciarelli (D)L. Harvey Smith (D)Appointed to the Senate on November 24, 20032004–2005 Glenn Cunningham (D)Died May 25, 2004Louis Manzo (D)Anthony Chiappone (D)Joseph Doria (D)Appointed to the Senate on June 9, 2004, elected in November 2004 to complete the unexpired term, resigned October 10, 20072006–2007 Louis Manzo (D)Charles T. Epps Jr. (D) Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D)Appointed to the Senate on November 8, 2007 2008–2009 Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D)L. Harvey Smith (D)Anthony Chiappone (D)2010–2011 Charles Mainor (D)Anthony Chiappone (D)Resigned July 16, 2010Jason O'Donnell (D)Appointed to the Assembly on July 27, 2010, elected in November 2010 special election to complete the unexpired term 2012–2013 Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D)Charles Mainor (D)Jason O'Donnell (D) 2014–2015 Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D) Charles Mainor (D)Jason O'Donnell (D) 2016–2017 Nicholas Chiaravalloti (D) Angela V. McKnight (D) 2018–2019 Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D)Nicholas Chiaravalloti (D) Angela V. McKnight (D) 2020–2021 Nicholas Chiaravalloti (D) Angela V. McKnight (D) 2022–2023 Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D)William Sampson (D) Angela V. McKnight (D) 2024–2025 Angela V. McKnight (D)William Sampson (D) Barbara McCann Stamato (D) 2026–2027 William Sampson (D) Jerry Walker (D)
Election results
Senate
General Assembly
References