Pennington, New Jersey

Pennington is a borough in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough is located at the cross-roads between the Delaware Valley region to the southwest and the Raritan Valley region to the northeast. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 2,802,

History

thumb|275px|Historic [[First Presbyterian Church (Pennington, New Jersey)|First Presbyterian Church in Pennington]]

According to an 1883 history, "the first name of the village was Queenstown, which was given it in honor of Queen Anne. Later it was by some, in derision of its comparative insignificance, Pennytown, and as early as 1747 it began to be called Pennington." The name "Penington" was already known in the area, as Edward Penington (1667–1701), son of the British Quaker leader Isaac Penington, was appointed by his kinsman William Penn as Surveyor General of Pennsylvania. His father-in-law was a longtime leader, including as governor, of the province of West Jersey, where Edward married. Henry Gannett attributes the borough's name to colonial governors from the Pennington family.

Pennington was established as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on January 31, 1890, from portions of Hopewell Township, based on the results of a referendum held on January 21, 1890. It is a dry borough, where alcohol cannot be sold.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 0.96 square miles (2.50 km2), including 0.96 square miles (2.49 km2) of land and <0.01 square miles (0.01 km2) of water (0.31%). making it part one of 21 pairs of "doughnut towns" in the state, where one municipality entirely surrounds another.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Pennington had a population of 2,802. The median age was 45.5 years. 24.7% of residents were under the age of 18 and 22.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 87.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 81.7 males age 18 and over.

100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 1,028 households in Pennington, of which 37.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 61.0% were married-couple households, 9.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 26.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States census

There were 1,013 households, out of which 40.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.2% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.8% were non-families. 22.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.14.

Government

Local government

thumb|right|Pennington Borough Hall and Public Library

Pennington is governed under the borough form of New Jersey municipal government, which is used in 218 municipalities (of the 564) statewide, making it the most common form of government in New Jersey. The governing body is comprised of a mayor and a 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. The borough form of government used by Pennington 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 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. The borough council has the option to designate an administrator or assign executive responsibilities to the administrator. The council may also adopt an administrative code which describes how the Council performs its duties.

, the mayor of Pennington is Democrat James Davy, who was elected to serve an unexpired term of office ending December 31, 2023. Members of the Borough Council are Council President Catherine M. "Kit" Chandler (D, 2023), Katrina Angarone (D, 2025), Deborah L. Gnatt (D, 2024), Charles "Chico" Marciante (D, 2025), Nadine Stern (D, 2024) and John Valenza (D, 2023; appointed to serve an unexpired term).

In February 2023, the council selected John Valenza to fill the seat that had been held by Ken Gross expiring in December 2023 that became vacant when he resigned.

Katrina Angarone was selected in February 2022 from a list of three names submitted by the Democratic municipal committee to fill the seat expiring in December 2022 that had been held by Beverly Mills until her resignation from office the previous month.

In June 2021, the borough council appointed former councilmember James Davy to fill the mayoral seat expiring in December 2023 that became vacant following the resignation of Joseph Lawver earlier that month. Davy served on an interim basis until the November 2021 general election, when he was elected to serve the remainder of the term of office. Former mayor Persichilli was first elected on November 7, 2006, to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of James Loper. Returned to office at that same election were Democratic council members Joseph Lawver and Eileen Heinzel. James Loper, the previous elected mayor, had resigned from office effective February 1, 2006. The Pennington Republican Committee nominated three candidates to take his place and the council selected James Benton from the three candidates to fill the vacancy. That same procedure was repeated in December 2006, when the borough council selected Diane Zompa to fill the unexpired term left by Persichilli.

Federal, state and county representation

Pennington is located in the 12th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 15th state legislative district.

Politics

As of March 2011, there were a total of 2,017 registered voters in Pennington, of which 828 (41.1%) were registered as Democrats, 467 (23.2%) were registered as Republicans and 720 (35.7%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were 2 voters registered as either Libertarians or Greens.

In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 66.0% of the vote (985 cast), ahead of Republican Mitt Romney with 32.7% (488 votes), and other candidates with 1.3% (19 votes), among the 1,653 ballots cast by the borough's 2,115 registered voters (161 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 78.2%. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 66.9% of the vote (1,090 cast), ahead of Republican John McCain with 31.0% (506 votes) and other candidates with 1.1% (18 votes), among the 1,630 ballots cast by the borough's 2,088 registered voters, for a turnout of 78.1%. In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat John Kerry received 61.7% of the vote (999 ballots cast), outpolling Republican George W. Bush with 35.9% (581 votes) and other candidates with 0.5% (11 votes), among the 1,619 ballots cast by the borough's 2,022 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 80.1.