CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS

FIND YOUR LEGISLATORS

If you live in New Jersey, you are represented by one state Senator and two state Assembly members. To find out the names, emails and phone numbers for your three legislators, click here .
 
You would call each of your three legislators separately. However, in some but not most districts, two or all three of the legislators representing the district actually share the same physical office and staff.  In that case, tell the office you want to relay your opinion to all the legislators there.

To call any of your state legislators to express your views on an issue, rather than to seek a meeting, we suggest you keep your call as short as possible.  When a staff member answers the phone at a legislative office, the staffer wants to log five things.  You should say those five things immediately:

For example: “Hi, I’m Jane Doe and I’m a constituent of yours from anytown. I’m also a leader or pastor in xyz organization.  I strongly believe in marriage equality and want the Senator/Assembly member to support it.”
 
To call any of your state legislators to seek a meeting, we strongly suggest you first email the office to ask for a meeting, and then follow up three or four business days later with a call.  That is standard protocol for legislative offices, which typically ask you to put your request for a meeting in writing – so it makes sense to start out that way and follow up.   
 
The subject line of your email should be: I’d like to meet the Senator or Assembly member. Or even better: I’m a constituent and I’d like to meet the Senator or Assembly member.
 
In the body of the email, you would include the information above, i.e. that you’d relay in a call, but you can expand on it in an email.  That is, you can state your reasons for supporting an issue:

To email your state legislators to seek a meeting on marriage equality, we suggest you click here for pointers.