John Allen (New Jersey politician)

John Allen
John Allen
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly; from the 32nd district
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; January 9, 2024 Serving with Jessica Ramirez
Preceded by	Angelica M. Jimenez; Pedro Mejia;
Personal details
Political party	Democratic
Education	Rutgers University; Rutgers Law School;
Website	Legislative webpage

John Allen is an American attorney and Democratic Party politician serving as a member of the New Jersey General Assembly for the 32nd legislative district, having taken office on January 9, 2024.

Biography

Raised in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey, Allen attended the local public schools and was elected to serve on the board of education of the Old Bridge Township Public Schools while he was a student at Rutgers University. A graduate of Rutgers Law School, a lawyer by profession and a resident of Hoboken, New Jersey, Allen has been the chief of staff and the assistant corporation counsel for Ravinder Bhalla, the mayor of Hoboken.^[1]^[2]

Elective office

In the wake of the 2021 apportionment, the reconfiguration of municipalities in the 32nd and 33rd districts and the incumbent Assembly members in those districts choosing to retire or run for other elective office, the Hudson County Democratic Organization chose newcomers Allen and Jessica Ramirez to run for the two Assembly seats.^[3] Allen and Ramirez defeated Republican Robert Ramos, the only other candidate running in the 2023 New Jersey General Assembly election.^[4]^[5] Allen was one of 27 members elected for the first time in 2023 to serve in the General Assembly, more than one-third of the seats.^[6]

Committees

Committee assignments for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:^[7]

Financial Institutions and Insurance
Housing
Tourism, Gaming and the Arts

District 32

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two representatives in the New Jersey General Assembly.^[8] The representatives from the 32nd District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:^[9]

Senator Raj Mukherji (D)
Assemblyman John Allen (D)
Assemblywoman Jessica Ramirez (D)

Electoral history

32nd Legislative District General Election, 2023^[10]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jessica Ramirez	15,197	45.7
	Democratic	John Allen	14,391	43.3
	Republican	Robert Ramos	3,665	11.0
Total votes			33,253	100.0
	Democratic hold
	Democratic hold

References

^ Election profile: 32nd Legislative District, NJ Spotlight News. Accessed January 9, 2024. "For the past five years or so, I worked as the chief of staff and then assistant corporation counsel for Mayor Ravi Bhalla of Hoboken.... Before working for the mayor, I was an attorney at a law firm that specializes in education issues. I represented school boards around the state, along with other clients.... A product of New Jersey public schools, I served on the school board in Old Bridge, my hometown, while still in college and ended up the board president. I have now returned to private law practice."
^ John Allen, Ravi Bhalla for Hoboken Mayor. Accessed January 10, 2024. "During this time John attended Rutgers, New Brunswick where he earned a bachelors degree.... John was fortunate to earn a Dean’s scholarship, an academic based tuition scholarship, and attend Rutgers Law School – Newark."
^ Fox, Joey. "Mejia at last confirms he won’t run for re-election", New Jersey Globe, January 17, 2023. Accessed January 10, 2024. "More than a week after the fate of his Assembly seat was publicly announced, Assemblyman Pedro Mejia (D-Secaucus) at last said today that he won’t run for re-election this year.... But legislative redistricting proved to be Mejia’s undoing.... The neighboring 32nd district will also send two new faces to the Assembly, with Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D-Jersey City) running for the Senate and Assemblywoman Annette Chaparro (D-Hoboken) stepping down after losing party support. They’ll be replaced on the county line by Jessica Ramirez and John Allen."
^ Connolly, John. "NJ election results 2023: State Senate, Assembly seats decided", The Record, November 9, 2023. Accessed December 23, 2023.
^ Official List Candidates for General Assembly for General Election November 7, 2023, New Jersey Department of State, December 6, 2023. Accessed December 23, 2023.
^ Wildstein, David. "37 new lawmakers take office at noon", New Jersey Globe, January 9, 2024. Accessed January 9, 2024. "The 221st New Jersey Legislature begins today, with 37 new lawmakers – nearly one-third of the legislature – being sworn in at noon. That number includes ten new Senators and 27 new members of the General Assembly."
^ Assemblyman John Allen (D), New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 23, 2024.
^ New Jersey State Constitution 1947 (Updated Through Amendments Adopted in November, 2020): Article IV, Section II, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2022.
^ Legislative Roster for District 32, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 23, 2024.
^ "Candidates for General Assembly - For GENERAL ELECTION 11/07/2023 Election" (PDF). New Jersey Department of State. Retrieved December 6, 2023.

[1] Election profile: 32nd Legislative District, NJ Spotlight News. Accessed January 9, 2024. "For the past five years or so, I worked as the chief of staff and then assistant corporation counsel for Mayor Ravi Bhalla of Hoboken.... Before working for the mayor, I was an attorney at a law firm that specializes in education issues. I represented school boards around the state, along with other clients.... A product of New Jersey public schools, I served on the school board in Old Bridge, my hometown, while still in college and ended up the board president. I have now returned to private law practice."

[2] John Allen, Ravi Bhalla for Hoboken Mayor. Accessed January 10, 2024. "During this time John attended Rutgers, New Brunswick where he earned a bachelors degree.... John was fortunate to earn a Dean’s scholarship, an academic based tuition scholarship, and attend Rutgers Law School – Newark."

[3] Fox, Joey. "Mejia at last confirms he won’t run for re-election", New Jersey Globe, January 17, 2023. Accessed January 10, 2024. "More than a week after the fate of his Assembly seat was publicly announced, Assemblyman Pedro Mejia (D-Secaucus) at last said today that he won’t run for re-election this year.... But legislative redistricting proved to be Mejia’s undoing.... The neighboring 32nd district will also send two new faces to the Assembly, with Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D-Jersey City) running for the Senate and Assemblywoman Annette Chaparro (D-Hoboken) stepping down after losing party support. They’ll be replaced on the county line by Jessica Ramirez and John Allen."

[4] Connolly, John. "NJ election results 2023: State Senate, Assembly seats decided", The Record, November 9, 2023. Accessed December 23, 2023.

[5] Official List Candidates for General Assembly for General Election November 7, 2023, New Jersey Department of State, December 6, 2023. Accessed December 23, 2023.

[6] Wildstein, David. "37 new lawmakers take office at noon", New Jersey Globe, January 9, 2024. Accessed January 9, 2024. "The 221st New Jersey Legislature begins today, with 37 new lawmakers – nearly one-third of the legislature – being sworn in at noon. That number includes ten new Senators and 27 new members of the General Assembly."

[NJLEG-7] Assemblyman John Allen (D), New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 23, 2024.

[8] New Jersey State Constitution 1947 (Updated Through Amendments Adopted in November, 2020): Article IV, Section II, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2022.

[9] Legislative Roster for District 32, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 23, 2024.

[GeneralResults-10] "Candidates for General Assembly - For GENERAL ELECTION 11/07/2023 Election" (PDF). New Jersey Department of State. Retrieved December 6, 2023.

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