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New Jersey Senate
The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature. It consists of 40 Senators, who are elected in a "2-4-4" cycle, representing districts with average populations of 210,359 (2000 figures). The "2-4-4" cycle was put into place so that Senate elections can reflect the changes made to the district boundaries on the basis of the decennial United States Census. (If the cycle were not put into place, then the boundaries would sometimes be four years out of date before being used for Senate elections. Rather, with the varied term, the boundaries are only two years out of date). Thus elections for Senate seats take place in years ending with a "1", "3" or "7" (e.g., 2001, 2003 and 2007 this decade). Interim appointments are made to fill vacant legislative seats by the county committee or committees of the party of the vacating person. The office is on the ballot for the next general election (regardless if all other Senate seats are up in that year, such as in years ending with a "5" or "9", such as 2005 and 2009 this decade), unless the vacancy occurred within 51 days of the election. Then the appointment stands until the following general election. Currently there are 23 Democratic Senators, and 17 Republican Senators.
Senatorial courtesySenatorial courtesy is a Senate tradition that allows home county legislators to intercede to prevent consideration of a local resident nominated by the Governor for a position that requires Senate confirmation.[1] Any of the senators from the nominee's home county can invoke senatorial courtesy to block a nomination, temporarily or permanently, without any obligation to justify the basis of their actions.[2] Governor Corzine nominated Stuart Rabner on June 4, 2007, to be the next Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, replacing James R. Zazzali, who was nearing mandatory retirement age.[3] Shortly after the nomination, two members of the Senate from Essex County, where Rabner resides, blocked consideration of his confirmation by invoking senatorial courtesy. State Senator Ronald Rice had initially blocked the nomination, but relented on June 15, 2007, after a meeting with the governor.[4] Nia Gill dropped her block on June 19, 2007, but did not explain the nature of her concerns, though anonymous lawmakers cited in The New York Times indicated that the objection was due to Rabner's race and Governor Corzine's failure to consider a minority candidate for the post.[1] Also in June 2007, Loretta Weinberg used senatorial courtesy privileges to hold up consideration of a new term in office for Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli.[2] LeadershipThe leadership for the 213th legislative session, which started on January 8, 2008, is as follows:
List of New Jersey State Senators (by District)
ReferencesExternal links
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