The district had 151,170 registered voters as of December 1, 2023[update], of whom 74,235 (49.1%) were registered as Democrats, 53,353 (35.3%) were registered as unaffiliated, 22,012 (14.6%) were registered as Republicans, and 1,570 (1.0%) were registered to other parties.[5]
African-American residents account for 16.6% of the district's population, mostly in Englewood, Hackensack, and Teaneck. The 37th has the fourth-highest percentage of Asian residents of all districts statewide, accounting for 13.4% of the population.[6][7]
The 37th district was created in 1973 along with the 40-district statewide legislative map. Some municipalities in the district in the 1970s included Bergenfield, Edgewater, Englewood, Fort Lee, Teaneck, and Tenafly.[9] After the 1981 redistricting, the only change made to the district was the addition of Fairview.[10] In the 1991 redistricting, some of the towns at the southern end of the district as well as Tenafly and Englewood Cliffs were shifted to other districts while it expanded west to Ridgefield Park, Bogota, Hackensack, and Maywood.[11] Changes made as a result of the 2001 redistricting including the reinstatement of Palisades Park, Tenafly, and Englewood Cliffs and the addition of Rochelle Park but Fort Lee was removed from the district at this time.[12]
In the 2011 apportionment following the 2010 census, Bergenfield, Maywood, and Rochelle Park (to the 38th district), Ridgefield Park (to the 36th district) were removed and Alpine, Cresskill, Fort Lee, Northvale and Rockleigh were added.[13]
As of 2023, registered Democrats outnumber Republicans by a better than 3-1 ratio in the district.[5] The 37th has never elected any legislators other than Democrats; one of only nine districts statewide to have only sent members of one political party to Trenton.[14]
Loretta Weinberg was chosen by Democratic committee members in March 1992 to fill the seat vacated in the Assembly by D. Bennett Mazur, who had resigned due to illness.[15]
In February 1993, Byron Baer announced that he would run for the seat in the New Jersey State Senate being vacated by Matthew Feldman.[16] Together with Assembly running mates Weinberg and Ken Zisa, who was on the ballot for Baer's former Assembly seat, Baer won election to the Senate.[17]
The Bergen County Democratic Organization caucused in September 2005, to select a candidate to replace Baer in the Senate who resigned on September 8, 2005 due to health issues. In balloting to replace Baer on an interim basis, Weinberg lost by a 114-110 margin to Zisa. In a separate vote, by a 112-111 margin, Zisa was selected over Weinberg to be the party's candidate on the November ballot.[18] Weinberg filed suit to challenger the exclusion of five ballots and in October 2005 a ruling in Weinberg's favor was issued, giving Weinberg the interim position and the ballot post.[19] With Weinberg's victory, Bergen County Freeholder Valerie Huttle and Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes both announced their candidacy for Weinberg's Assembly seat, with Huttle outpolling Wildes in another special convention by a 121-96 margin.[20]
^Fallon, Scott. Huttle gets Democrats' nod to run for Assembly in 37th -- Freeholder defeats Englewood mayor in party tussle", The Record, October 7, 2005. Accessed June 15, 2010. "Freeholder Valerie Huttle will succeed Loretta Weinberg as a Democratic Assembly candidate in the 37th District after defeating Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes in a county committee election Thursday night. Huttle won, 121-96, to be the party's nominee on the Nov. 8 ballot. She will fill the rest of the Assembly term after Weinberg resigns."
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