New Jersey's 12th congressional district

New Jersey's Twelfth Congressional district is represented by Democrat Bonnie Watson Coleman. The district is known for its research centers and educational institutions such as Princeton University, The College of New Jersey, Institute for Advanced Study, Johnson & Johnson and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Voting trends

Historically, the 12th and its predecessors had been a swing district. However, redistricting following the United States Census, 2000 made gave the district a somewhat bluer hue than its predecessor. It absorbed most of Trenton, along with a number of other municipalities.

The redistricting made second-term Democrat Rush Holt considerably more secure; he had narrowly defeated freshman Republican Michael Pappas in 1998, and had only held on to his seat against Dick Zimmer (who represented the district from 1991 to 1997) by 651 votes. In 2002, despite an expensive challenge from former New Jersey Secretary of State Buster Soaries, Holt was re-elected with 61%, and Republicans have mostly lost interest in the district.

New Jersey Route 12

Route 12 is a state highway located in Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. It runs 11.69 mi (18.81 km) from the Uhlerstown-Frenchtown Bridge at the Delaware River border with Pennsylvania in Frenchtown east to an intersection with U.S. Route 202 (US 202) and Route 31 at the Flemington Circle in Flemington. The route is mostly a two-lane undivided road that passes through rural areas of woodland and farmland. It intersects Route 29 and County Route 513 (CR 513) in Frenchtown, CR 519 in Kingwood Township, CR 579 on the border of Delaware Township and Raritan Township, and CR 523 in Raritan Township.

The route was designated in 1927 to run from Frenchtown to Raritan, Somerset County, running along its current alignment to Flemington and following present-day US 202 between Flemington and Raritan. By the 1940s, US 202 and Route 29 replaced Route 12 east of Flemington, and the route was officially designated to end in Flemington in 1953. There are currently plans to modify or eliminate three traffic circles along the route in Flemington to ease traffic congestion.