New Jersey's 12th congressional district

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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, covering portions of Mercer, Somerset, Union, and Middlesex counties, although the district contains the state capital of Trenton as well as the smaller city of Plainfield.

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 1910 United States census. 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. Since then, the 12th has become a Democratic-leaning district, as measured by the Cook PVI.^[1]

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.

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, as well as the portion of Trenton that it had not absorbed in the previous redistricting. Holt retired in 2014 and was succeeded by State Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman, making her the first African-American woman elected to Congress from New Jersey.

Counties and municipalities in the district

For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of four counties and 32 municipalities.^[2]

Mercer County (7)

Ewing Township, Hopewell, Hopewell Township, Pennington, Princeton, Trenton, West Windsor

Middlesex County (14)

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

Somerset County (10)

Bound Brook, Bridgewater Township (part, also in 7th), Hillsborough Township (part, also in 7th; includes Blackwells Mills, Hillsborough CDP, and part of Belle Mead and Flagtown), Franklin Township, Manville, Millstone, Montgomery Township, North Plainfield, Rocky Hill, South Bound Brook

Union County (1)

Plainfield

Recent election results from statewide races

Year	Office	Results^[3]^[4]
2008	President	align="right" style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"\|Obama 65% - 34%
2012	President	align="right" style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"\|Obama 66% - 34%
2016	President	align="right" style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"\|Clinton 64% - 33%
2017	Governor	align="right" style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"\|Murphy 61% - 36%
2018	Senate	align="right" style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"\|Menendez 62% - 35%
2020	President	align="right" style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"\|Biden 67% - 32%
2020	Senate	align="right" style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"\|Booker 65% - 33%
2021	Governor	align="right" style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"\|Murphy 61% - 38%
2024	President	align="right" style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"\|Harris 61% - 37%
2024	Senate	align="right" style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading"\|Kim 62% - 35%

List of members representing the district

Member (District Home)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history	Counties/Towns
District established March 4, 1913
File:James A. Hamill (New Jersey Congressman).jpg James A. Hamill (Jersey City)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" \| Democratic	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1921	Template:USCongressOrdinal	Redistricted from the Template:Ushr and re-elected in 1912. Re-elected in 1914. Re-elected in 1916. Re-elected in 1918. Retired.	1913–1933 Parts of Jersey City
File:CharlesFXOBrien.jpg Charles F. X. O'Brien (Jersey City)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" \| Democratic	March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1925	Template:USCongressOrdinal	Elected in 1920. Re-elected in 1922. Retired to become registrar of records of Hudson County.
File:Mary Teresa Norton cph.3b14795.jpg Mary Teresa Norton (Jersey City)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" \| Democratic	March 4, 1925 – March 3, 1933	Template:USCongressOrdinal	Elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Re-elected in 1930. Redistricted to the Template:Ushr.
File:FrederickRLehlbach.jpg Frederick R. Lehlbach (Newark)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" \| Republican	March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1937	Template:USCongressOrdinal	Redistricted from the Template:Ushr and re-elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. Lost re-election.	1933–1967 Parts of Essex
File:Frank W. Towey (New Jersey Congressman) 2.jpg Frank William Towey Jr. (Caldwell)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" \| Democratic	January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1939	Template:USCongressOrdinal	Elected in 1936. Lost re-election.
File:KEANROBERTWIN.jpg Robert Kean (Livingston)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" \| Republican	January 3, 1939 – January 3, 1959	Template:USCongressOrdinal	Elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Re-elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1944. Re-elected in 1946. Re-elected in 1948. Re-elected in 1950. Re-elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
File:George M. Wallhauser.jpg George M. Wallhauser (Maplewood)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" \| Republican	January 3, 1959 – January 3, 1965	Template:USCongressOrdinal	Elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1962. Retired.
File:Paul J. Krebs.jpg Paul J. Krebs (Livingston)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" \| Democratic	January 3, 1965 – January 3, 1967	Template:USCongressOrdinal	Elected in 1964. Retired.
File:Florence Dwyer.jpg Florence P. Dwyer (Elizabeth)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" \| Republican	January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1973	Template:USCongressOrdinal	Redistricted from the Template:Ushr and re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Retired.	1967–1973 Parts of Essex and Union
File:Matthew J. Rinaldo.jpg Matthew John Rinaldo (Union Township)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" \| Republican	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1983	Template:USCongressOrdinal	Elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Re-elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Redistricted to the Template:Ushr.	1973–1983 Parts of Union
File:Jim Courter.jpg Jim Courter (Hackettstown)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" \| Republican	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1991	Template:USCongressOrdinal	Redistricted from the Template:Ushr and re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Retired.	1983–1985 Parts of Hunterdon, Morris, Somerset, Sussex, Union, and Warren
	1985–1993 Hunterdon and parts of Mercer (Princeton and West Windsor), Middlesex, Morris, Somerset, Sussex, and Warren	January 3, 1983 – January 3, 1991	Template:USCongressOrdinal
File:Richard Alan Zimmer portrait (cropped).gif Dick Zimmer (Delaware)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".		rowspan=2 style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" \| Republican	January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1997	Template:USCongressOrdinal	Elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
	1993–2003 Parts of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Somerset		January 3, 1991 – January 3, 1997	Template:USCongressOrdinal
File:MichaelJamesPappas.jpg Mike Pappas (Rocky Hill)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".		style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (US)/meta/shading" \| Republican	January 3, 1997 – January 3, 1999	Template:USCongressOrdinal	Elected in 1996. Lost re-election.
File:Rep Holt Official Headshot.jpg Rush D. Holt Jr. (Hopewell Township)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".		rowspan=3 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" \| Democratic	January 3, 1999 – January 3, 2015	Template:USCongressOrdinal	Elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Retired.
	2003–2013 NJ12congressdistrict Parts of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, and Somerset
	2013–2023 File:New Jersey's 12th congressional district (2013).svg 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)
File:Bonnie Watson Coleman.jpg Bonnie Watson Coleman (Ewing Township)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".		rowspan=2 style="color:black;background-color:Template:Democratic Party (US)/meta/shading" \| Democratic	January 3, 2015 – present	Template:USCongressOrdinal	Elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022. Re-elected in 2024.
	2023–present: File:New Jersey's 12th congressional district (since 2023) (new version).svg Parts of Mercer, Middlesex, Somerset, and Union (Plainfield)		January 3, 2015 – present	Template:USCongressOrdinal