Nilsa Cruz-Perez (born January 21, 1961) is an American politician who was sworn into office to represent the 5th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate on December 15, 2014, to fill the vacant seat of Donald Norcross. She had previously served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1995 to 2010 and is the first Latina woman to serve in the Assembly.

Early life

Cruz-Perez born on January 21, 1961, in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. She was a member of the Popular Democratic Party during her youth. Attended the University of Puerto Rico earning a degree in political science, Big Bend Community College Army Quartermaster School and the Temple University Overseas Division.[2] Cruz-Perez served in the United States Army from 1981 to 1987, she was stationed in Mainz, Germany and attained the rank of sergeant. Cruz-Perez works as a part-time community development specialist for the Camden County Improvement Authority.[2] Formerly a resident of Camden, she now resides in Barrington.[3]

Career

New Jersey Assembly

Cruz-Perez was selected in February 1995 to fill the vacancy created by resignation of Assemblyman Wayne R. Bryant, when Bryant was selected to fill the Senate seat vacated due to the death of Senator Walter Rand on January 6, 1995.[4] She was sworn into the Assembly on February 27.[5] Serving in the Assembly until 2010, representing the 5th District for the entire time she was serving, she was the Assistant Majority Leader from 2002 to 2005 and Deputy Majority Leader from January 2008 to January 2010.[2] In 2009 she announced that she would retire after her current term in the legislature.[6]

Cruz-Perez was the primary sponsor of Bill S2599 which seeks to change the legal term of "illegal alien" to "undocumented foreign national."[7]

New Jersey Senate

Following the election and swearing in of State Senator Donald Norcross to the United States House of Representatives in 2014, the Democratic committees of Camden and Gloucester counties (the two counties within the 5th district) appointed Cruz-Perez to the vacant Senate seat.[3] She will serve until a special election in 2015 in which she is running.[8] While in the Senate, she is serving on the Economic Growth, (vice-chair), Military and Veterans' Affairs, and Transportation committees and Joint Committee on the Public Schools. In addition to her legislative duties, she is also a vice-chair of the New Jersey Democratic State Committee (since 2015) and a member of the Rutgers University–Camden Board of Directors (since 2014).[2] Between her legislative stints, she was the Democratic Vice-chair of the 2011 New Jersey Apportionment Commission, the committee delegated to redraw the state legislative districts following the 2010 census.[5]

Committees

Committee assignments for the current session are:[2]

  • Economic Growth (as chair)
  • Military and Veterans' Affairs (as vice-chair)
  • Budget and Appropriations

District 5

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly.[9] The representatives from the 5th District for the 2024–2025 Legislative Session are:[10]

Electoral history

New Jersey Senate

5th Legislative District General Election, 2023[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nilsa Cruz-Perez (incumbent) 25,799 68.7
Republican Clyde E. Cook 11,245 29.9
Rights Tranquility Peace Mohammad Kabir 530 1.4
Total votes 37,574 100.0
Democratic hold
5th Legislative District general election, 2021[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nilsa Cruz-Perez (incumbent) 31,246 57.70
Republican Clyde Cook 22,903 42.30
Total votes 54,149 100.0
Democratic hold
2017 New Jersey Senate election for the 5th Legislative District
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Nilsa Cruz-Perez (Incumbent)[13] 29,031 66.1 Decrease 33.9
Republican Keith Walker 14,463 32.9 N/A
Challenge Promise Fix Mohammad Kabir 454 1.0 N/A
Total votes '43,948' '100.0'
2015 Special New Jersey Senate election for the 5th Legislative District
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Nilsa Cruz-Perez (Incumbent)[14] 19,150 100.0 Increase 42.1
Total votes '19,150' '100.0'

New Jersey Assembly

2007 New Jersey General Assembly election for the 5th Legislative District
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Joe Roberts (Incumbent) 17,554 32.2 Decrease 13.2
Democratic Nilsa Cruz-Perez (Incumbent)[15] 15,978 29.3 Decrease 13.2
Republican Edward Torres 9,136 16.8 N/A
Republican Jonathan Mangel 9,070 16.6 N/A
Green Richard L. Giovanoni 1,419 2.6 Decrease 2.5
Green Mark Heacock 1,381 2.5 Decrease 2.7
Total votes '54,538' '100.0'
2005 New Jersey General Assembly election for the 5th Legislative District
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Joe Roberts (Incumbent) 29,893 45.4 Increase 12.9
Democratic Nilsa Cruz-Perez (Incumbent)[16] 27,955 42.5 Increase 12.0
Green Richard L. Giovanoni 3,429 5.2 N/A
Green Mark Heacock 3,386 5.1 N/A
Libertarian Kevin Ferrizzi 1,131 1.7 N/A
Total votes '65,794' '100.0'
2003 New Jersey General Assembly election for the 5th Legislative District
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Joe Roberts (Incumbent) 21,608 32.5 Decrease 10.5
Democratic Nilsa Cruz-Perez (Incumbent)[17] 20,260 30.5 Decrease 9.6
Republican Jeffrey R. Kugler 12,467 18.7 Increase 1.8
Republican Eddie Torres 12,165 18.3 N/A
Total votes '66,500' '100.0'
2001 New Jersey General Assembly election for the 5th Legislative District
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Joe Roberts (Incumbent) 32,224 43.0
Democratic Nilsa Cruz-Perez (Incumbent)[18] 30,087 40.1
Republican Ella Hilton 12,659 16.9
Total votes 74,970 100.0
1999 New Jersey General Assembly election for the 5th Legislative District
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Joe Roberts (Incumbent) 18,429 43.6 Increase 0.1
Democratic Nilsa Cruz-Perez (Incumbent)[19] 16,398 38.8 Decrease 0.6
Republican William E. Spencer 7,438 17.6 Increase 1.6
Total votes '42,265' '100.0'
1997 New Jersey General Assembly election for the 5th Legislative District
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Joe Roberts (Incumbent) 31,898 43.5 Increase 9.3
Democratic Nilsa Cruz-Perez (Incumbent)[20] 28,918 39.4 Increase 7.9
Republican Joe Smiriglio 11,744 16.0 Decrease 1.6
Republican No nomination made 777 1.1 Decrease 15.5
Total votes '73,337' '100.0'
1995 New Jersey General Assembly election for the 5th Legislative District
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Joe Roberts (Incumbent) 20,618 34.2 Decrease 0.5
Democratic Nilsa Cruz-Perez (Incumbent)[21] 19,006 31.5 Decrease 3.4
Republican David Brodecki 10,635 17.6 Increase 2.1
Republican Jose Delgado 10,000 16.6 Increase 1.8
Total votes '60,259' '100.0'

References

  1. ^ "New Jersey Legislature Committees and Membership 2018-2019 Legislative Session". njleg.state.nj.us. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e Senator Nilsa I. Cruz-Perez (D), New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 21, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Caffrey, Michelle (December 15, 2014). "First Latina legislator in N.J. Cruz-Perez steps into new role in state Senate". South Jersey Times. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  4. ^ Ott, Dwight (January 28, 1995). "Latino Woman Likely To Join Assembly – A First Camden's Nilsa Cruz-perez Would Replace Wayne R. Bryant. He Will Fill Walter Rand's State Senate Seat". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on July 4, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "New Jersey Apportionment Committee – Commission Membership". Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  6. ^ McCarthy, Pete. "Seat opens in 5th District", Gloucester County Times, March 18, 2009. Accessed November 15, 2016. "Assemblywoman Nilsa Cruz-Perez, the first Hispanic woman elected to the Legislature, announced she will not seek re-election after 14 years in Trenton."
  7. ^ "NJ Legislature".
  8. ^ "Unofficial List Candidates for State Senate For PRIMARY ELECTION 06/02/2015 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. June 3, 2015. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
  9. ^ New Jersey State Constitution 1947 (Updated Through Amendments Adopted in November, 2020): Article IV, Section II, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 21, 2024.
  10. ^ Legislative Roster for District 5, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 21, 2024.
  11. ^ "Official List, Candidates for State Senate for GENERAL ELECTION 11/07/2023 Election" (PDF). New Jersey Department of State. December 6, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  12. ^ "Official List, Candidates for State Senate For GENERAL ELECTION 06/08/2021 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 30, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  13. ^ "2017-official-general-election-results-state-senate.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  14. ^ "2015-official-ge-results-nj-senate.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  15. ^ "2007-official-general-election-tallies(ga)-12.12.07.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  16. ^ "05831236.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  17. ^ "2003g_a_candidate_tally.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  18. ^ "2001-general-elect-gen-assembly-tallies.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  19. ^ "1999-general-elect-gen-assembly-candidate-tallies.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 April 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  20. ^ "1997-general-election-results-state-assembly.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 April 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  21. ^ "1995-general-election-results-general-assembly.pdf" (PDF). New Jersey Secretary of State. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
New Jersey Senate
Preceded by Member of the New Jersey Senate for the 5th District
December 15, 2014–present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
New Jersey General Assembly
Preceded by Member of the New Jersey General Assembly for the 5th District
February 27, 1995–January 12, 2010
With: Joseph J. Roberts 		Succeeded by
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nilsa_Cruz-Perez
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