September 26, 2023

Earlier this month, CAWP released a new report on the demographics of New Jersey elected officials as the first part of a project created by the New Jersey Legislature. From Data to Diversity: The Demographics of New Jersey’s Elected Officials, written by CAWP Data Services Manager Chelsea Hill and Associate Director Jean Sinzdak and completed in coordination with our colleagues at the Eagleton Center for Public Interest Polling (ECPIP), seeks to provide clarity on a question of longstanding concern here in New Jersey and around the country: is our government reflective of the population it serves?

The answer, unsurprising to many of you, is no.

White men are by far the most overrepresented group in New Jersey’s political offices. While making up just 27% of the population, white men hold half or more of elected positions at every level of office for which we collected race data. Among mayors of cities with a population over 30,000, white men hold nearly 7 in 10 offices.

Because of this extreme overrepresentation, women and people of other racial and ethnic groups remain significantly underrepresented in New Jersey politics. Across all levels of office for which we have race data, people of every gender and race/ethnicity combination besides white men are underrepresented in at least one level of office. Asian American women and Latinas are underrepresented at all levels of office. Women as a whole are likewise underrepresented at every level of office in New Jersey.

Read the full report, which also includes a description of challenges in collecting this information and recommendations to ensure the sustainability of this project moving forward, here.

Following the release of From Data to Diversity: The Demographics of New Jersey’s Elected Officials, CAWP Director Debbie Walsh and Associate Director Jean Sinzdak published an opinion piece on NJ.com detailing the importance of the work and ways to sustain it. “Exposing the truth of just how deeply unrepresentative our government is shows us how far we are from the height of our ideals,” they write, “and the work ahead for the citizens and political influencers of New Jersey to build a future where all the people of New Jersey are reflected in our governing bodies.” Read the full piece, In a ‘bleak’ new portrait of NJ’s political diversity, white men still hold most political offices, on NJ.com.

Welcoming New Faces to the CAWP Team 

CAWP continues to build on its mission to promote greater knowledge and understanding about the role of women in American politics, enhance women's influence in public life, and expand the diversity of women in politics and government. To further this mission, we are thrilled to welcome two new members of our team:

Dr. Paru Shah joins the Center and Rutgers University as a professor of political science and senior CAWP scholar. Coming to us from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, Shah’s research interests include gender, race/ethnicity, paths to office, and descriptive and substantive representation, particularly in state and local offices. Her articles have appeared in such journals as the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, Journal of Women, Politics and Policy, and Politics, Groups and Identities. She was also previously the president of the Shorewood School District Board of Education.

Cai Barias is the Center’s new program and events coordinator. Barias is currently a doctoral student in Asian and Asian American women’s history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she is completing a dissertation on internationalism and Filipina women's movements. She has presented research on international student activism at Harvard University, Cornell University, and the Association of Asian American Studies annual conference. She grew up in the Oklahoma panhandle and has a very large dog named Ella.