Nancy Muñoz


Nancy Ann Foster Muñoz is an American Republican Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 2009 to 2026, where she represented the 21st Legislative District. She was appointed minority whip on July 18, 2017, and co-chair of the Republican Conference, alongside John DiMaio, on January 14, 2020. She lost re-election in 2025.
Muñoz served in the General Assembly as the Deputy Minority Leader and Republican Budget Officer.

Early life

Nancy Ann Foster was born on September 8, 1954, the daughter of Freda and James E. Foster and graduated from Mark T. Sheehan High School in Wallingford, Connecticut. She holds a B.S. and a M.S. from Skidmore College and Hunter College, respectively. She has worked as a nurse in Massachusetts General Hospital, the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and Overlook Medical Center, and has worked as a risk care manager for Continental Insurance Health Care. Muñoz is a resident of Summit. In 1984, she married Eric Muñoz in Freehold Borough, with whom she has five children.

New Jersey Assembly

Muñoz's husband, a New Jersey General Assemblyman, died at the age of 61 from complications from a ruptured aortic aneurysm on March 30, 2009.
In April 2009, Nancy Muñoz received the backing of the Union County Republican Party in her efforts to take over her late husband's seat in the legislature.
Long Hill Township Mayor George Vitureira and Long Hill School Board member Bruce Meringolo also sought the seat; Vitureira was backed by Morris County GOP chairman John Sette. The Republican Party held a special convention in Mountainside on April 27 to determine who would take over the seat; Muñoz won with 174 votes, while Meringolo received 34 votes and Vitureira received 16. She was sworn into the legislature on May 21; she was assigned to serve on the Health and Senior Services Committee and the Human Services Committee, taking committee seats previously held by her husband. Muñoz took her first steps towards being elected in her own right on June 2, 2009, when she defeated Meringolo and Vitureira in the Republican primary; she subsequently won the general election and has been re-elected to two-year terms since then.

Committee assignments

Committee assignments for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:
  • Budget
  • Health

    District 21

Each 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. The representatives from the 21st District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session were:

New Jersey Assembly