New Jersey General Assembly

New Jersey General Assembly
221st New Jersey Legislature
Type
Type	Lower house
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 9, 2024
Leadership
Speaker	Craig Coughlin (D) since January 9, 2018
Speaker pro tempore	Benjie E. Wimberly (D) since January 11, 2022
Majority Leader	Louis Greenwald (D) since January 10, 2012
Minority Leader	John DiMaio (R) since January 11, 2022
Structure
Seats	80
Political groups	Majority   Democratic (52) Minority   Republican (28)
Length of term	2 years
Authority	Article IV, New Jersey Constitution
Salary	$49,000/year
Elections
Voting system	Plurality-at-large voting
Last election	November 7, 2023 (80 seats)
Next election	November 4, 2025 (80 seats)
Redistricting	New Jersey Apportionment Commission
Meeting place
General Assembly Chamber New Jersey State House Trenton, New Jersey
Website
www.njleg.state.nj.us

The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.

Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for a term of two years, each representing districts with average populations of 232,225 (2020 figures), with deviation in each district not exceeding 3.21% above and below that average.^[1] To be eligible to run, a potential candidate must be at least 21 years of age, and must have lived in their district for at least one year prior to the election, and have lived in the state of New Jersey for two years. They also must be residents of their districts. Membership in the Assembly is considered a part-time job, and many members have employment in addition to their legislative work. Assembly members serve two-year terms, elected every odd-numbered year in November. One current member of the Assembly, Gary Schaer, holds another elective office (Passaic City Council President),^[2] as he is grandfathered in under a New Jersey law that banned multiple office holding in 2007.

The Assembly is led by the Speaker of the Assembly, who is elected by the membership of the chamber. After the Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey and the President of the New Jersey Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly is third in the line of succession to replace the Governor of New Jersey in the event that the governor is unable to execute the duties of that office. The Speaker decides the schedule for the Assembly, which bills will be considered, appoints committee chairmen, and generally runs the Assembly's agenda. The current Speaker is Craig Coughlin (D-Woodbridge).