The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure). Each district has one senator and two members of the New Jersey General Assembly, the lower house of the legislature. Prior to the election in which they are chosen, senators must be a minimum of 30 years old and a resident of the state for four years to be eligible to serve in office.
From 1844 until 1965 (when the Reynolds v. Sims US Supreme Court decision mandated all state legislators be elected from districts of roughly equal population), each county was an electoral district electing one senator. Under the 1844 Constitution, the term of office was three years, which was changed to four years with the 1947 Constitution. Since 1968 the Senate has consisted of 40 senators, who are elected in a 2-4-4 cycle. Senators serve a two-year term at the beginning of each decade, with the rest of the decade divided into two four-year terms. The 2-4-4 cycle was put into place so that Senate elections can reflect the changes made to the district boundaries on the basis of the decennial United States Census. If the cycle were not put into place, then the boundaries would sometimes be four years out of date before being used for Senate elections. Rather, with the varied term, the boundaries are only two years out of date. Thus elections for Senate seats take place in years ending with a 1, 3, or 7 (i.e. next elections in 2027, 2031, and 2033).
Interim appointments are made to fill vacant legislative seats by the county committee or committees of the party of the vacating person (since a constitutional amendment passed on November 8, 1988). The office is on the ballot for the next general election, even if the other Senate seats are not up for election in that year (such as in years ending with a 5 or 9, such as 2009 or 2015). The sole exception to this is if the vacancy occurred within 51 days of the election, in which case the appointment stands until the following general election.
Service as a State Senator or Member of the General Assembly is considered to be part-time. Since 2026, legislators receive a base salary of $82,000. The last time the salary had increased was 2002. At that time, State Senators and Members of the General Assembly received an annual base salary of $49,000 with the Senate President and the Assembly Speaker earning slightly more (1/3 over the base). This was an increase from $35,000, which had been in effect since 1990. Additionally, each legislator receives an annual allowance of $150,000 for staff salaries. In the 2025 Fiscal Year, the total cost of the Legislature in the state budget was $127,346,000. Of this amount, $18,690,000 was appropriated to the State Senate for salaries and other costs, and $25,208,000 was appropriated to the General Assembly.
Committees and committee chairs
Committee chairs for the 2026–2028 Legislative Session are:
Budget and Appropriations – Paul Sarlo (D-District 36)
Commerce – Joseph Lagana (D-District 38)
Community and Urban Affairs – Troy Singleton (D-District 7)
Economic Growth – Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-District 5)
Education – Vin Gopal (D-District 11)
Environment and Energy – Bob Smith (D-District 17)
Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens – Joe F. Vitale (D-District 19)
Higher Education – Joseph Cryan (D-District 20)
Judiciary – Brian P. Stack (D-District 33)
Labor – Gordon Johnson (D-District 37)
Law and Public Safety – Linda R. Greenstein (D-District 14)
Legislative Oversight – Andrew Zwicker (D-District 16)