Assemblywoman Nellie Pou represents the 35^th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly. The 35th District currently includes the City of Paterson and the Boroughs of Haledon, Hawthorne, North Haledon, Prospect Park, Totowa, and Glen Rock.

Assemblywoman Pou won election to her first full two-year term in November 1997. She has been a member of the Assembly Appropriations Committee for over ten years, and has served as the committee chairwoman since 2006. Assemblywoman Pou is also a member of the Assembly Budget Committee, as well as the Joint Budget Oversight committee. In 2010, she was appointed to the Joint Committee on Public Schools, the Special Committee on Economic Development, and the Assembly Bipartisan Leadership Committee. She has been the chairwoman of the Legislative Latino Caucus since 2006.

Assemblywoman Pou holds the dual distinctions of being the first woman and the first Latina to represent the 35^th District in the state Legislature. She is a veteran of the City of Paterson’s municipal administration, having served in various capacities for over three decades.

A member of the New Jersey Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect since 1997, Assemblywoman Pou is a consummate advocate for the needs of children, women, and families. She is also a member of the Women’s Democratic Caucus, the National Order of Women Legislators, Women in Government, the National Foundation of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, and the National Foundation of Women Legislators.

In April 2011, Assemblywoman Pou was nominated by the Democratic Committees of Passaic and Bergen Counties to run for the New Jersey State Senate in the new 35^th District. The new 35^th District will include the City of Paterson and the Boroughs of Haledon, North Haledon and Prospect Park in Passaic County, as well the City of Garfield and the Borough of Elmwood Park in Bergen County. When elected, Pou will become the first female and the first Latina to represent the 35^th District in the State Senate.