Nelida "Nellie" Avila Pou[2] (born May 20, 1956;[1][3] pronounced "Poe"[4]) is an American Democratic Party politician who has served in the New Jersey Senate since 2012, representing the 35th Legislative District. She previously represented the 35th district in the General Assembly. When Pou was sworn into the Assembly on January 29, 1997, to succeed Bill Pascrell, she became the first woman and the first Hispanic to represent the 35th district.[5]
Nellie Pou | |
|---|---|
 Pou in 2012 | |
| Member-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 9th district | |
| Assuming office January 3, 2025 | |
| Succeeding | Bill Pascrell |
| Member of the New Jersey Senate from the 35th district | |
| Assumed office January 10, 2012 | |
| Preceded by | John Girgenti |
| Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 35th district | |
| In office January 29, 1997 – January 10, 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Bill Pascrell |
| Succeeded by | Shavonda E. Sumter Benjie E. Wimberly |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 20, 1956 |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Richard Freid |
| Residence(s) | North Haledon, New Jersey, U.S.[1] |
| Education | Rutgers University Kean College |
| Website | Legislative biography site |
Pou serves in the senate as the Majority Caucus Chair.[3] Pou has chaired the bicameral New Jersey Legislative Latino Caucus since 2006.[3] From 2022 to 2023, Pou was also president of the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators.[6]
On August 29, 2024, Pou was selected to replace Rep. Bill Pascrell on the ballot as the Democratic candidate in New Jersey's 9th congressional district following his death eight days earlier.[7]
Education
editPou attended Kean College, Rutgers University, and the University of Virginia.[8]
Career
editPou has spent most of her career working for the City of Paterson, where she has served as business administrator (2014–18), assistant business administrator (2003–2014, 1997–1998), director of human services (1986–1997), and CETA training and education coordinator (1975–1983).[3]
As of 2019 she was a project coordinator for the Paterson Parking Authority.[9]
She also served on the New Jersey Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect (1997–2016) and on the Passaic-Bergen County HIV Health Services Advisory Council (1993–1997).[3] She was the coordinator of the Passaic County Youth Program from 1983 to 1985.[3]
New Jersey General Assembly
editPou was appointed to a vacant seat previously held since 1988 by Bill Pascrell in the New Jersey General Assembly on January 29, 1997. Pascrell resigned from his position after being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, and sworn in on January 3, 1997.[10] She was the Assembly's Deputy Speaker from 2002 to 2005 and the Assistant Minority Leader from 2000 to 2001.[3]
In the Assembly, Pou served on the Appropriations Committee (as Chair from 2006 to 2011), the Budget Committee, the Education Committee and the Joint Budget Oversight Committee.[3] Previously, Pou served on the Senior Issues Committee (as Chair), the Appropriations Committee (as Vice Chair) and the Education Committee.
New Jersey Senate
editInstead of running for re-election to her Assembly seat in 2011, Pou ran for the State Senate seat from the district that long-time incumbent John Girgenti was vacating. She easily defeated former Haledon Mayor Ken Pengitore in the 2011 New Jersey Senate election, as expected, and was sworn in as Senator in January 2012.[11] She was re-elected to the New Jersey Senate in 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2023.[12]
Committees
editCommittee assignments for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:[3]
- Commerce (as chair)
- Judiciary (as vice-chair)
District 35
editEach of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly.[13] The representatives from the 35th District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:[14]
- Senator Nellie Pou (D)
- Assemblywoman Shavonda E. Sumter (D)
- Assemblyman Benjie E. Wimberly (D)
U.S. House of Representatives
editOn August 29, 2024, Passaic County Democratic committee members nominated Pou to run to represent New Jersey's 9th congressional district, facing Republican Billy Prempeh in the 2024 election. Democratic leaders rapidly agreed to choose her to replace Representative Bill Pascrell, who died on August 21; the deadline for replacing Pascrell on the ballot was midnight that evening.[15]
Election history
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Nelida Pou (incumbent) | 11,950 | 69.0 | |
| Republican | Christopher Faustino | 5,365 | 31.0 | |
| Total votes | 17,315 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Nelida Pou (incumbent) | 20,464 | 68.59 | |
| Republican | Kenneth Pengitore | 9,372 | 31.41 | |
| Total votes | 29,836 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Nellie Pou (incumbent) | 21,425 | 79.0 | |
| Republican | Marwan Sholakh | 5,698 | 21.0 | |
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Nellie Pou (incumbent) | 22,154 | 74.1 | |
| Republican | Lynda Gallashaw | 7,737 | 25.9 | |
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Nellie Pou | 14,386 | 74.7 | |
| Republican | Ken Pengitore | 4,867 | 25.3 | |
| Democratic hold | ||||
References
edit- ^ a b Clunn, Nick. "GOP faults Dems on Paterson ties in 35th District", The Record, October 26, 2011. Accessed September 11, 2015. "Nellie Pou (D); Age: 55; Hometown: North Haledon"
- ^ "Rep. Nellie Pou - D New Jersey, 9rd - Biography". LegiStorm. Retrieved November 6, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Senator Nellie Pou, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2024.
- ^ Baldwin, Tom. Dag Hammarskjold? Some ask 'Who's he?' Corzine makes reference to late U.N. secretary-general", Courier-Post, February 23, 2007. Accessed January 12, 2022, via Newspapers.com. "Odd that a copy of the Corzine address had Hammarskjold's name spelled out phonetically, as was the name of Assemblywoman Nellie Pou, D-Passaic, whose name is pronounced like 'Poe.'"
- ^ "Pou to Take Assembly Oath as First Woman, First Hispanic to Represent the 35th District", The Italian Voice, February 13, 1997. Accessed April 7, 2008. "Nellie Pou took the oath of office Wednesday January 29th for the 35th District Assembly seat vacated by William J. Pascrell Jr., who was elected to Congress in November. Pou is the first woman and the first Hispanic to represent the 35th District in the Legislature."
- ^ Sen. Nellie Pou, National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators. Accessed April 17, 2024.
- ^ Houlis, Katie (August 30, 2024). "New Jersey Sen. Nellie Pou will replace late Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. on November ballot - CBS New York". CBS News. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
- ^ "District 35: Nellie Pou". New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
- ^ "Nellie Pou nets Paterson parking agency job". North Jersey. January 3, 2019.
- ^ Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey - Two Hundred and Eleventh Legislature (First Session) (PDF). Skinder-Strauss Associates. 2004. pp. 289–290. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
- ^ a b Official List Candidate Returns for State Senate For November 2011 General Election, New Jersey Department of State, December 14, 2011. Accessed January 22, 2012.
- ^ "Nellie Pou". Ballotpedia. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
- ^ 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 35, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 28, 2024.
- ^ Blackburn, Zach (August 29, 2024). "Democrats officially nominate Nellie Pou to succeed Pascrell". New Jersey Globe. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
- ^ "Official List, Candidates for State Senate for GENERAL ELECTION 11/07/2023 Election" (PDF). New Jersey Department of State. December 6, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
- ^ "Official List, Candidates for State Senate For GENERAL ELECTION 06/08/2021 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 30, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
- ^ "Official List Candidates for State Senate For GENERAL ELECTION 11/07/2017 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. November 19, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
- ^ "Official List Candidates for State Senate For GENERAL ELECTION 11/05/2015 Election" (PDF). Secretary of State of New Jersey. December 4, 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 4, 2015. Retrieved July 4, 2015.
External links
edit- Senator Pou's legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature
- New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms
- Assembly Member Nellie Pou, Project Vote Smart
- Appearances on C-SPAN