Donald Norcross | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew Jersey's1st district | |
| Assumed office November 12, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Rob Andrews |
| Member of theNew Jersey Senate from the5th district | |
| In office January 19, 2010 – November 12, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Dana L. Redd |
| Succeeded by | Nilsa Cruz-Perez |
| Member of theNew Jersey General Assembly from the5th district | |
| In office January 12, 2010 – January 19, 2010 | |
| Preceded by | Nilsa Cruz-Perez Joseph J. Roberts |
| Succeeded by | Whip Wilson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1958-12-13)December 13, 1958 (age 66) Camden, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Andrea Doran |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | George Norcross (brother) John C. Norcross (brother) |
| Education | Camden County College (AS) Rutgers University, Camden (attended) |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
Donald W. Norcross (born December 13, 1958) is an American politician and labor leader who is theU.S. representative forNew Jersey's 1st congressional district inSouth Jersey. A member of theDemocratic Party, Norcross was first elected to this congressional seat in 2014, following the resignation ofRob Andrews. His district covers much of the New Jersey side of thePhiladelphia metro area, includingCamden,Cherry Hill,Lindenwold, andGlassboro.
Before entering electoral politics, Norcross was involved in the leadership of theInternational Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 351 and was president of the Southern New JerseyAFL-CIO Central Labor Council. He was elected to theNew Jersey General Assembly in 2009, but shortly after his term began in January 2010, he was appointed to fill a vacancy in theNew Jersey State Senate, where he remained until his election to the House of Representatives.
Norcross is a member of the committees onArmed Services as well asEducation and Labor. He is a member of theCongressional Progressive Caucus and theNew Democrat Coalition, and is a founding member of the Bipartisan Building Trades Caucus.
Norcross was born on December 13, 1958, inCamden,[1] the son of George E. Norcross Jr. and the brother ofGeorge E. Norcross III andJohn C. Norcross. He and his three brothers were raised inPennsauken Township. He graduated fromCamden County College with a degree incriminal justice, and attendedRutgers University-Camden.[2] He was raised in theLutheran faith.[3][4][5]
In 1980, Norcross served as an apprentice in theInternational Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, eventually becoming assistant business manager of the IBEW Local 351.[6] A former president of the Southern New Jersey Building Trades Council, he served as president of the Southern New Jersey AFL-CIO Central Labor Council for 16 years.[7]
Norcross and his running mate, Camden City Council PresidentAngel Fuentes, were elected to the Assembly in 2009 after Democratic incumbentsNilsa Cruz-Perez andJoseph J. Roberts both retired. Shortly thereafter, Norcross was appointed to the Senate seat vacated byDana Redd, who was electedmayor of Camden. Norcross won the Senate special election in 2010 to finish out the term, then was reelected to the New Jersey Senate in 2011 and 2013.[7][8]
On February 4, 2014, South Jersey CongressmanRob Andrews announced he would resign from Congress by the end of the month, and he did so on February 18.[9]
Norcross announced his candidacy on February 5, and within a week, he was endorsed by every New Jersey congressional Democrat, State Senate PresidentStephen Sweeney, General Assembly Majority LeaderLouis Greenwald,Mayor of CamdenDana Redd, U.S. SenatorCory Booker, and former GovernorJim Florio (who represented the 1st from 1975 to 1990).[8]
Norcross won the Democratic primary—thereal contest in what has long been the only safe Democratic district in South Jersey[citation needed]—with 72% of the vote. He ran in two elections on November 4: a special election for the balance of Andrews's term, and a regular election for a full two-year term. He easily won both over Republican challengerGarry Cobb. He was sworn in on November 12 byHouse SpeakerJohn Boehner. Since he was added to the House roll on that date, he gained more seniority than other members of the House freshman class of 2014.
Soon after his election, Norcross was appointed assistant whip, a role he reprised after his 2016 reelection.[10] He now serves in a number of leadership roles in the Democratic Caucus, including co-chair of the Rebuilding America Task Force,[11] member of the Steering and Policy Committee,[12] and member of the Communications Committee.[13] He is also the co-founder of the Bipartisan Building Trades Caucus[14] and vice chair of the Bipartisan Task Force to Combat the Heroin Epidemic,[15] and was appointed to the Joint Select Committee on Pension Security.[16]
In 2020, Norcross was mentioned as a possible candidate forsecretary of labor under PresidentJoe Biden.[17][18]
On June 12, 2025, Norcross was one of the four Democrats who did not vote on the $9 billion spending cuts put forward by theDepartment of Government Efficiency; house Republicans passed the rescission package by 2 votes.[19]
On June 24, 2021, during a remoteUnited States House Committee on Education and Labor meeting overZoom withSecretary of EducationMiguel Cardona, RepresentativeBob Good was questioning Cardona when someone interrupted by shouting "racist!", while Norcross's name flashed on the screen, leading participants to believe that Norcross made the remark; a later report fromFox News explicitly attributed the outburst to Norcross. A letter signed by every Republican member of the committee demanded an apology from Committee ChairmanBobby Scott for what they considered a "slander" and a "smear" against Good. Scott responded by calling the outburst "inappropriate" and "out of order". Norcross did not publicly address the incident.[20][21]
For the119th Congress:[22]
Norcross is married to Andrea Doran, anechocardiographer. They have two children. Norcross also has a child by his first wife, Nancy.[2][7] His brotherGeorge is aNew Jersey Democratic leader and businessman. He has two other brothers, attorney Philip A. Norcross andJohn, apsychologist, author, and professor at theUniversity of Scranton. Norcross lives in Camden.[33]
On April 7, 2025, Norcross fell ill fromcholangitis while on a flight, and was hospitalized atUNC Rex Healthcare inRaleigh, North Carolina.[34] He was then transferred toCooper University Hospital in Camden, where he was treated for the infection, which had progressed tosepsis; Norcross later said that he was close to death during this period.[34][35][36] On April 15, his office said that he was "responding well to treatment" but remained in theintensive care unit.[34] He was discharged from the hospital on May 1, to start a period of rehabilitation.[37] He briefly returned to Congress overnight from May 21–22, 2025, to vote against theOne Big Beautiful Bill Act, before resuming a full work schedule on June 23.[36]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Donald W. Norcross (incumbent) | 28,801 | 65.7 | |
| Republican | Harry E. Trout | 15,041 | 34.3 | |
| Democratichold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Donald W. Norcross (incumbent) | 17,712 | 56.8 | |
| Republican | Keith Walker | 13,444 | 43.2 | |
| Democratichold | ||||
| Year | Democratic | Votes | Pct | Republican | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | 3rd Party | Party | Votes | Pct | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014[40] | Donald Norcross | 93,315 | 57.4 | Garry Cobb | 64,073 | 39.4 | Scot John Tomaszewski | Independent | 1,784 | 0.9 | Robert Shapiro | Independent | 1,384 | 0.7 | Margaret M. Chapman | Independent | 1,134 | 0.7 | [a] | |||||
| 2016[41] | 183,231 | 60.0 | Bob Patterson | 112,388 | 36.8 | 5,473 | 1.8 | William F. Sihr IV | Libertarian | 2,410 | 0.8 | Michael Berman | Independent | 1,971 | 0.7 | |||||||||
| 2018[42] | 169,628 | 64.4 | Paul E. Dilks | 87,617 | 33.3 | Robert Shapiro | Libertarian | 2,821 | 1.1 | Paul Hamlin | Independent | 2,368 | 0.9 | Mohammad Kabir | Independent | 984 | 0.4 | |||||||
| 2020[43] | 240,567 | 62.5 | Claire Gustafson | 144,463 | 37.5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2022[44] | 139,559 | 62.3 | 78,794 | 35.2 | Patricia Kline | Independent | 3,343 | 1.5 | Isaiah Fletcher | Libertarian | 1,546 | 0.7 | Allen Cannon | Independent | 642 | 0.3 | ||||||||
| 2024[45] | 208,808 | 57.8 | Theodore Liddell | 144,390 | 40.0 | Robin Brownfield | Green | 5,771 | 1.6 | Austin Johnson | Independent | 2,091 | 0.6 |
Rep. Donald Norcross (D-N.J.), who also has strong building trades connections
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromNew Jersey's 1st congressional district 2014–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 126th | Succeeded by |
| People | |
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| Other | |
