Mapping Early American Elections

New Jersey General Assembly, 1802

In 1802, New Jersey elected thirty-nine assemblymen to the state’s General Assembly. Twenty were Federalists, and at least nineteen were Democratic-Republicans.

New Jersey’s state legislature was comprised of an upper house called the Legislative Council and a lower house called the General Assembly. Each of the state’s thirteen counties elected one councilor and three assemblymen to the legislature. Elections for both houses were held annually.

In 1802, New Jersey allowed unmarried women (single and widowed) and free blacks (who met the property requirement) to vote. New Jersey was the only state to allow women to vote, and one of a few that allowed African Americans to vote. However, this unique makeup of the electorate only lasted a short time. An 1807 law did away with property restrictions, but also limited the franchise to white males.

This era of New Jersey politics was marked by intense party competition between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. New Jersey’s 1802 General Assembly election helps illustrate a shift in party control in New Jersey’s state and federal offices. During the 1790s, New Jersey almost exclusively elected Federalist candidates to state and federal office. However after 1800, New Jersey Republicans gained control of the state legislature, the governorship, and the congressional delegation.

District Candidate Party Vote Percentage Elected
Bergen Isaac Kip Federalist 898 21.2% ✓
Bergen Thomas Blanch Federalist 867 20.5% ✓
Bergen Peter Ward Federalist 863 20.4% ✓
Bergen Henry Van Dolsen Democratic-Republican 552 13%
Bergen Isaac Vanderbeck Democratic-Republican 509 12%
Bergen John D. Herring Democratic-Republican 431 10.2%
Burlington William Stockton Federalist 1,794 16.6% ✓
Burlington William Coxe Federalist 1,683 15.6% ✓
Burlington William Pearson Federalist 1,628 15.1% ✓
Burlington John Lacey Federalist 1,613 14.9% ✓
Burlington Joseph Budd Democratic-Republican 1,094 10.1%
Burlington David Wright Democratic-Republican 1,015 9.4%
Burlington Samuel Jones Democratic-Republican 1,007 9.3%
Burlington William Wood Democratic-Republican 958 8.9%
Cape May Joseph Faulkenburge Federalist 197 66.6% ✓
Cape May William Eldridge Democratic-Republican 99 33.4%
Cumberland Azel Pierson Democratic-Republican 934 31.8% ✓
Cumberland George Burgin Democratic-Republican 929 31.7% ✓
Cumberland James Sheppard Federalist 534 18.2%
Cumberland Jonathan Bowen Federalist 528 18%
Essex Ezra Darby Democratic-Republican 1,822 33.4% ✓
Essex Israel Day Democratic-Republican 1,244 22.8% ✓
Essex Abraham Godwin Democratic-Republican 1,230 22.6% ✓
Essex Abraham Woolley Republican Faction 583 10.7%
Essex James Ludlow Republican Faction 571 10.5%
Gloucester Samuel W. Harrison Federalist 1,249 17.3% ✓
Gloucester Samuel French Federalist 1,248 17.3% ✓
Gloucester Abel Clement Federalist 1,239 17.1% ✓
Gloucester Isaac Mickle Democratic-Republican 1,175 16.2%
Gloucester Amos Cooper Democratic-Republican 1,163 16.1%
Gloucester John Winner Democratic-Republican 1,159 16%
Hunterdon Peter Gordon Democratic-Republican 1,909 13% ✓
Hunterdon Stephen Burrowes Federalist 1,859 12.7% ✓
Hunterdon Simon Wyckoff Federalist 1,841 12.5% ✓
Hunterdon Benjamin Van Cleve Federalist 1,826 12.4% ✓
Hunterdon Joseph Hankinson Democratic-Republican 1,825 12.4%
Hunterdon John Haas Democratic-Republican 1,824 12.4%
Hunterdon Nathan Stout Democratic-Republican 1,806 12.3%
Hunterdon Jacob Schenck Federalist 1,784 12.2%
Middlesex Gersham Dunn Federalist 972 20.4% ✓
Middlesex Ercuries Beatty Federalist 943 19.8% ✓
Middlesex John Combs Federalist 932 19.6% ✓
Middlesex James Morgan Democratic-Republican 718 15.1%
Middlesex John Morgan Democratic-Republican 684 14.4%
Middlesex Nathaniel Leonard Democratic-Republican 507 10.7%
Monmouth John A. Scudder Democratic-Republican 1,659 20.7% ✓
Monmouth Peter Knott Democratic-Republican 1,526 19% ✓
Monmouth James Cox Democratic-Republican 1,427 17.8% ✓
Monmouth David Gordon Federalist 1,231 15.3%
Monmouth Kenneth Anderson Federalist 1,166 14.5%
Monmouth Joseph Stillwell Federalist 1,016 12.7%
Morris Aaron Kitchell Democratic-Republican 1,031 38.1% ✓
Morris William Corwin Democratic-Republican 865 32% ✓
Morris Jonathan Ogden Democratic-Republican 809 29.9% ✓
Salem Samuel Ray Democratic-Republican 1,069 22.3% ✓
Salem Edward Burroughs Democratic-Republican 1,066 22.2% ✓
Salem Merriman Smith Democratic-Republican 1,065 22.2% ✓
Salem Eleazer Mayhew Federalist 534 11.1%
Salem Robert G. Johnson Federalist 533 11.1%
Salem Joseph Shinn Federalist 532 11.1%
Somerset William MacEowen Federalist 479 33.5% ✓
Somerset Frederick Frelinghuysen Federalist 478 33.4% ✓
Somerset James Van Duyn Federalist 474 33.1% ✓
Sussex John Linn Democratic-Republican 1,500 17.8% ✓
Sussex Silas Dickerson Democratic-Republican 1,499 17.8% ✓
Sussex Levi Howell Democratic-Republican 1,449 17.2% ✓
Sussex Abraham Shaver Democratic-Republican 1,444 17.2% ✓
Sussex Other candidates 1,162 13.8%
Sussex John Gustin Federalist 734 8.7%
Sussex Thomas Armstrong Federalist 617 7.3%

In most cases, only candidates who received more than 5 percent of the vote in a district are reported. Other candidates are reported as a group, but only if they in aggregate received more than 5 percent of the vote. In addition, percentages for each district may not add up to 100 percent due to rounding. The term Dissenting Republican includes various breakaway factions of the Democratic-Republican party.

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“New Jersey General Assembly, 1802,” Mapping Early American Elections, https://earlyamericanelections.org/maps/meae.staterepresentative.1802.nj.county.html

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