New Legislative District Map Leaves Politicians Scrambling

The commission re-drawing New Jersey's state assembly districts issued its final map Sunday, leaving incumbents and potential challengers scratching their heads to determine whether it helps or hurts their election chances.

Every 10 years, after the U.S. Census provides new population data, the state must re-draw the boundaries of the assembly districts to keep the population approximately equal. In New Jersey, that is done by a commission of five Democrats and five Republicans. After they proved unable to agree on a map, a judge ordered the addition of an 11th, nonpartisan member, Rutgers public policy professor Alan Rosenthal.

After weeks of hearings, debate and discussion, he decided on Saturday to vote in favor of the map proposed by Democrats.

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A spreadsheet showing what towns are included in each of the new districts is attached above as a PDF file. Another PDF shows a map of the old districts.
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The boundaries of almost every district were changed, generally by adding or subtracting a nearby town. Ocean City remains part of the 1st Assembly District, which is currently represented by Democratic Assemblymen Nelson Albano and Matthew Milam and Democratic Sen. Jeffrey Van Drew.

The 1st District loses Somers Point, which moves to join its Atlantic County neighbors in the 2nd District. Atlantic County's Buena Vista Township and Buena Borough also move from the 1st to the 2nd District.

In return, Atlantic County's Estell Manor and Corbin City move from the 2nd District into the 1st.

The 1st District also picks up the western Cumberland County townships of Commercial, Downe, Hopewell, Lawrence, Greenwich and Fairfield from the 3rd District.

The Star-Ledger quoted Rosenthal as defending his decision, saying he believed the Democrats' map was "less disruptive."

"It is a map, I believe, that gives the minority party a chance at winning control of the Legislature, even in what is essentially a Democratic state," he said.

Predictably, reaction to the plan was divided along party lines.

Republicans claimed the map puts more people in districts in southern New Jersey than in the north, an imbalance that may grow if the southern part of the state continues to gain population faster than the northern part.

"People in southern New Jersey will have their votes count less than people in northern New Jersey—noting also that the population growth, we expect, will continue to happen in South Jersey,'' the GOP redistricting chairman, Assemblyman Jay Webber, told The Asbury Park Press. "And so over time, resident citizens of South Jersey will continue to have their votes undercounted as compared with their neighbors in the north.''

The Democrat's redistricting commissioner, Sen. Paul Sarlo, told The Asbury Park Press Webber's points were "sour grapes.'

Republicans could still decide to challenge the plan in court, but as of Sunday, weren't saying if they planned to do so.