Editing Somerdale, New Jersey (section)

==Government==
===Local government===
[[File:Somerdale, NJ municipal building (1), Nov. 2024.jpg|thumb|right|Somerdale Municipal Building]]
Somerdale is governed under the [[Borough (New Jersey)|borough]] form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 (of the 564) municipalities in the state, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey.<ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/inventory_of_municipal_forms_of_government_in_new_jersey.pdf ''Inventory of Municipal Forms of Government in New Jersey''], [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies, July 1, 2011. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> The governing body is comprised of the mayor and the borough council, with all positions elected [[at-large]] on a partisan basis as part of the November general election. A mayor is elected directly by the voters to a four-year term of office. The borough council includes six members, who are elected to serve three-year terms on a staggered basis, with two seats coming up for election each year in a three-year cycle.<ref name=DataBook>''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'', [[Rutgers University]] [[Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy]], March 2013, p. 28.</ref> The borough form of government used by Somerdale is a "[[weak mayor]] / strong council" government in which council members act as the legislative body with the mayor presiding at meetings and voting only in the event of a tie. The mayor can [[veto]] ordinances subject to an [[veto override|override]] by a two-thirds majority vote of the council. The mayor makes committee and liaison assignments for council members, and most appointments are made by the mayor with the advice and consent of the council.<ref>[https://www.somerdale-nj.com/departments/borough-council Borough Council], Borough of Somerdale. Accessed September 22, 2019.</ref>February 25, 2025<ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/forms_of_municipal_government_in_new_jersey_9220.pdf#page=6 "Forms of Municipal Government in New Jersey"], p. 6. [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref>

{{As of|2023}}, the mayor of Somerdale is [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] Gary J. Passanante, whose term of office ends December 31, 2023. Members of the Borough Council are Council President George Badey (D, 2024), David A. Alexander (D, 2025), George C. Ehrmann (D, 2024), Barbara Kane (D, 2025), James J. Perry (D, 2023) and Lawrence R. "Larry" Sefchick (D, 2023).<ref name=MayorCouncil>[https://somerdale-nj.com/your-government/mayor-council/ Mayor & Council], Borough of Somerdale. Accessed June 8, 2023.</ref><ref>[https://somerdale-nj.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/6126b38525a74b43ede4fdfb_2021-Municipal-Budget-User-Friendly.pdf 2021 Municipal User Friendly Budget], Borough of Somerdale. Accessed June 8, 2023. As of date accessed, this is the most recent available budget.</ref><ref name=Camden2022>[https://www.camdencounty.com/wp-content/elections/general2022/2022-General-Election-Canvasser.pdf Official Election Results 2022 General Election November 8, 2022], Camden County, New Jersey, as of November 21, 2022. Accessed January 1, 2023.</ref><ref name=Camden2021>[https://www.camdencounty.com/wp-content/elections/general2021/2021-General-Election-Canvasser.pdf 2021 General Election November 2, 2021 Official Election Results], [[Camden County, New Jersey]], update November 15, 2021. Accessed January 1, 2022.</ref><ref name=Camden2020>[https://www.camdencounty.com/wp-content/elections/general2020/2020-General-Election-Canvasser.pdf 2020 General Election November 3, 2020 Official Election Results], [[Camden County, New Jersey]], update November 20, 2020. Accessed January 1, 2021.</ref><ref name=Camden2019>[https://www.camdencounty.com/wp-content/elections/general2019/results/2019-General-Election-Canvasser.pdf Official Election Results 2019 General Election November 5, 2019], [[Camden County, New Jersey]], updated November 15, 2019. Accessed January 1, 2020.</ref>

===Federal, state, and county representation===
Somerdale is located in the 1st Congressional District<ref name=PCR2012>[https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/2012-congressional-districts/njcd-2011-plan-components-county-mcd.pdf Plan Components Report], [[New Jersey Redistricting Commission]], December 23, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2020.</ref> and is part of New Jersey's 6th state legislative district.<ref name=Districts2011>[https://www.nj.gov/state/elections/assets/pdf/2011-legislative-districts/towns-districts.pdf Municipalities Sorted by 2011-2020 Legislative District], [[New Jersey Department of State]]. Accessed February 1, 2020.</ref><ref name=LWV2019>[https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5bae63366fd2b2e5b9f87e5e/5d30f0a94a82c66427e564d2_2019_CitizensGuide.pdf ''2019 New Jersey Citizen's Guide to Government''], New Jersey [[League of Women Voters]]. Accessed October 30, 2019.</ref><ref>[https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/districts/districtnumbers.asp#6 Districts by Number for 2011-2020], [[New Jersey Legislature]]. Accessed January 6, 2013.</ref>

{{NJ Congress 01}} {{NJ Senate}}

{{NJ Legislative 06}}

{{NJ Camden County Freeholders}}

===Politics===
As of March 2011, there were a total of 3,457 registered voters in Somerdale, of which 1,919 (55.5%) were registered as [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]], 318 (9.2%) were registered as [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] and 1,215 (35.1%) were registered as [[Unaffiliated (New Jersey)|Unaffiliated]]. There were 5 voters registered as [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarians]] or [[Green Party (United States)|Greens]].<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2011-camden-co-summary-report.pdf Voter Registration Summary - Camden], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, March 23, 2011. Accessed October 15, 2012.</ref>

In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2012|2012 presidential election]], Democrat [[Barack Obama]] received 72.4% of the vote (1,718 cast), ahead of Republican [[Mitt Romney]] with 26.8% (635 votes), and other candidates with 0.8% (19 votes), among the 2,383 ballots cast by the borough's 3,747 registered voters (11 ballots were [[Spoilt vote|spoiled]]), for a turnout of 63.6%.<ref name=2012Elections>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-presidential-camden.pdf |title=Presidential General Election Results - November 6, 2012 - Camden County |date=March 15, 2013 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref><ref name=2012VoterReg>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2012-results/2012-ballotscast-camden.pdf |title=Number of Registered Voters and Ballots Cast - November 6, 2012 - General Election Results - Camden County|date=March 15, 2013 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref> In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2008|2008 presidential election]], Democrat Barack Obama received 68.3% of the vote (1,758 cast), ahead of Republican [[John McCain]], who received around 28.5% (734 votes), with 2,573 ballots cast among the borough's 3,437 registered voters, for a turnout of 74.9%.<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2008-gen-elect-presidential-results-camden.pdf 2008 Presidential General Election Results: Camden County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 23, 2008. Accessed October 15, 2012.</ref> In the [[United States presidential election in New Jersey, 2004|2004 presidential election]], Democrat [[John Kerry]] received 65.2% of the vote (1,653 ballots cast), outpolling Republican [[George W. Bush]], who received around 33.0% (836 votes), with 2,535 ballots cast among the borough's 3,444 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 73.6.<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/election-results/2004-presidential_camden_co_2004.pdf 2004 Presidential Election: Camden County], [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 13, 2004. Accessed October 15, 2012.</ref>

{{PresHead|place=Somerdale|source=<ref>{{Cite web |title=NJ DOS - Division of Elections - Election Results Archive |url=https://nj.gov/state/elections/election-information-results.shtml |access-date=2025-01-16 |website=nj.gov}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Democratic|1,000|1,715|38|New Jersey}}
{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|950|1,918|40|New Jersey}}
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{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|635|1,718|19|New Jersey}}
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{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|836|1,653|46|New Jersey}}
|}

In the [[New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2013|2013 gubernatorial election]], Republican [[Chris Christie]] received 49.2% of the vote (606 cast), ahead of Democrat [[Barbara Buono]] with 49.1% (604 votes), and other candidates with 1.7% (21 votes), among the 1,259 ballots cast by the borough's 3,753 registered voters (28 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 33.5%.<ref name=2013Elections>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-results-governor-camden.pdf |title=Governor - Camden County |date=January 29, 2014 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref><ref name=2013VoterReg>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/2013-results/2013-general-election-ballotscast-camden.pdf |title=Number of Registered Voters and Ballots Cast - November 5, 2013 - General Election Results - Camden County|date=January 29, 2014 |publisher=New Jersey Department of Elections |access-date=December 24, 2014}}</ref> In the [[New Jersey gubernatorial election, 2009|2009 gubernatorial election]], Democrat [[Jon Corzine]] received 58.8% of the vote (842 ballots cast), ahead of both Republican [[Chris Christie]] with 33.6% (481 votes) and Independent [[Chris Daggett]] with 4.8% (69 votes), with 1,433 ballots cast among the borough's 3,469 registered voters, yielding a 41.3% turnout.<ref>[http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-camden.pdf 2009 Governor: Camden County] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017225410/http://www.njelections.org/election-results/2009-governor_results-camden.pdf |date=2012-10-17 }}, [[New Jersey Department of State]] Division of Elections, December 31, 2009. Accessed October 15, 2012.</ref>