Record Number of Women Freeholders Will Serve in 2018

When New Jersey counties swear in their boards of freeholders in January, a record 41 women will be included. The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, counts a total of 15 winners of 2017 elections who will join 26 holdovers. Women will be 30 percent of all freeholders serving in 2018.

CAWP has been tracking the number of women freeholders since 1985. The previous record number, set in 2006 and reached again in 2017, was 38 (28 percent).

The full release, including a table of candidates and winners, is here.

The Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, is nationally recognized as the leading source of scholarly research and current data about American women’s political participation. Its mission is to promote greater knowledge and understanding about women’s participation in politics and government and to enhance women’s influence and leadership in public life. CAWP’s education and outreach programs translate research findings into action, addressing women’s under-representation in political leadership with effective, imaginative programs serving a variety of audiences. As the world has watched Americans considering female candidates for the nation’s highest offices, CAWP’s over four decades of analyzing and interpreting women’s participation in American politics have provided a foundation and context for the discussion.