The Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University's Eagleton Institute says Tuesday's election results will, as expected, drop New Jersey from its brief visit to the top 10 states for women in its legislature. The state did elect a woman, Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno, as its first lieutenant governor, on a ticket with Chris Christie.
"When the New Jersey legislature is sworn in on January 12, 2010, it will have 34 women (28.3 percent) among its 120 members. New Jersey will rank 15th in the nation for the proportion of women in its legislature. The peak was 31.7 percent in late 2009, briefly placing New Jersey 7th among the states.
"The new legislature will include 26 women elected to the Assembly on Tuesday (17D, 9R). All were re-elected incumbents; no women won open seats or defeated incumbents. The number of women in the Assembly will drop from the 2009 total, since two assemblywomen did not seek re-election.
"There were no regular elections for the New Jersey Senate this year, but eight holdovers (6D, 2R) will remain in office. The number of women in the Senate dropped by two; Senator Marcia Karrow lost her primary, and Senator Dana Redd, who was elected Mayor of Camden, will step down to assume that post."