A 5886 New Jersey General Assembly · 2024-2025 Regular Session

Revises process for filling vacancy from this State in United States House of Representatives.

This bill changes how New Jersey fills vacancies in its U.S. House of Representatives seat. It requires the Governor to issue a writ of election within 10 days of a vacancy, replacing the current unspecified timeframe. The bill establishes clear timelines based on the remaining term: for vacancies with 180+ days remaining, it mandates a special primary election followed by a special election; for 135-180 days remaining, it mandates a special election without a primary; and for less than 135 days remaining, the seat remains vacant until the next term. This provides more predictable scheduling for voters, candidates, and election officials.
Bill status passed both 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jun 2025
Committee Review
Jan 2026
General Assembly Passage
Jan 2026
Senate Passage
Jan 2026
Governor
Introduced Jun 25, 2025 Last action Jan 12, 2026
Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
7
Key actions
3
Committee
2
Jan 12, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (Passed Both Houses) (39-0)
upper
Jan 12, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed Assembly (66-7-1)
lower
Jan 8, 2026
Lower · Passed
Reported out of Assembly Committee with Amendments, 2nd Reading
lower
Jan 5, 2026
Committee
Reported out of Assembly Committee with Amendments and Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee
lower
Jun 25, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee
lower
4 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors