The 21st district had 176,112 registered voters as of December 1, 2021, of whom 66,455 (37.7%) were registered as
unaffiliated, 59,939 (34.0%) were registered as
Democrats, 48,411 (27.5%) were registered as
Republicans, and 1,307 (0.7%) were registered to other parties.[6]
The densely populated district is one of the wealthiest in the state, with the highest equalized property value and income on a per capita basis. Standardized test schools in the district's public schools were the highest of all districts statewide, and the district placed third in the percentage of 9th graders graduating from high school. Voter registration and turnout in the 21st district is among the highest in the state.[7][8]
When the 40-district legislative map was created in 1973, the 21st district was originally in eastern Union County consisting of
Elizabeth,
Linden, and
Winfield Township plus
Carteret in
Middlesex County.[10] In the 1981 redistricting, the 21st district became based out of central Union County, centered about Kenilworth and inclusive of the municipalities that border Kenilworth plus Westfield, Garwood,
Roselle, and
Hillside.[11] In the next redistricting in 1991, a major change occurred to the district's boundaries: It now consisted of northern Union County from Roselle Park and
Union Township, then north into the west side of
Essex County from
Millburn to
North Caldwell and
Cedar Grove.[12]
After a single term in the Senate,
Thomas G. Dunn was dropped by the Union County Democrats in 1977 and was replaced on the party line by
Linden Mayor
John T. Gregorio.[13] Dunn ran as an independent and lost to Gregorio in the general election.[14]
Edward K. Gill, elected to the Assembly in 1981 after
C. Louis Bassano ran for the Senate, had announced that he would not run for a third term in the Assembly shortly before his death in February 1985.[15]Peter J. Genova was elected in a special election to fill Gill's vacant seat.[16]
Joel Weingarten was elected to the Assembly in a November 1996 special election in which he defeated Democratic candidate Robert R. Peacock to fill the one year remaining on the vacant seat of
Monroe Jay Lustbader, who had died in office in March 1996.[17]
A special convention of Republican Party delegates chose
Nancy Munoz in May 2009 to succeed her husband,
Eric Munoz, following his death in March of that year.[19]
The 21st district had 176,112 registered voters as of December 1, 2021, of whom 66,455 (37.7%) were registered as
unaffiliated, 59,939 (34.0%) were registered as
Democrats, 48,411 (27.5%) were registered as
Republicans, and 1,307 (0.7%) were registered to other parties.[6]
The densely populated district is one of the wealthiest in the state, with the highest equalized property value and income on a per capita basis. Standardized test schools in the district's public schools were the highest of all districts statewide, and the district placed third in the percentage of 9th graders graduating from high school. Voter registration and turnout in the 21st district is among the highest in the state.[7][8]
When the 40-district legislative map was created in 1973, the 21st district was originally in eastern Union County consisting of
Elizabeth,
Linden, and
Winfield Township plus
Carteret in
Middlesex County.[10] In the 1981 redistricting, the 21st district became based out of central Union County, centered about Kenilworth and inclusive of the municipalities that border Kenilworth plus Westfield, Garwood,
Roselle, and
Hillside.[11] In the next redistricting in 1991, a major change occurred to the district's boundaries: It now consisted of northern Union County from Roselle Park and
Union Township, then north into the west side of
Essex County from
Millburn to
North Caldwell and
Cedar Grove.[12]
After a single term in the Senate,
Thomas G. Dunn was dropped by the Union County Democrats in 1977 and was replaced on the party line by
Linden Mayor
John T. Gregorio.[13] Dunn ran as an independent and lost to Gregorio in the general election.[14]
Edward K. Gill, elected to the Assembly in 1981 after
C. Louis Bassano ran for the Senate, had announced that he would not run for a third term in the Assembly shortly before his death in February 1985.[15]Peter J. Genova was elected in a special election to fill Gill's vacant seat.[16]
Joel Weingarten was elected to the Assembly in a November 1996 special election in which he defeated Democratic candidate Robert R. Peacock to fill the one year remaining on the vacant seat of
Monroe Jay Lustbader, who had died in office in March 1996.[17]
A special convention of Republican Party delegates chose
Nancy Munoz in May 2009 to succeed her husband,
Eric Munoz, following his death in March of that year.[19]