The new congressional map resulted in Pascrell's hometown of Paterson being added to the 9th district, which had been represented by Steve Rothman, a fellow Democrat who, like Pascrell, entered Congress after winning a seat in the 1996 election.

In 2012, both incumbents ran for their party's nomination for the seat in the June primary, which Pascrell won.

Later that year, Pascrell defeated Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, the Republican nominee, in the general election.

[3] In the 2024 election, the district shifted dramatically to the right, narrowly voting for Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump after having previously voted for Democrat Joe Biden over Trump by 19 points in 2020.

[4] For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of three counties and 35 municipalities.