The new map will have a large influence over which party controls the state Legislature in this fall's elections — and for the next decade.
NEW BRUNSWICK — Democrats today claimed a key victory that will shape New Jersey politics for the next 10 years by prevailing in a long and hard-fought battle with Republicans to redraw the state’s 40 legislative districts.
The state legislative redistricting commission’s tiebreaker, Alan Rosenthal, informed the Democrats early in the evening that he plans to vote for their proposal when the commission meets at the Statehouse on Sunday at noon.
The stakes could not be higher. The new map will have a large influence over which party controls the state Legislature in this fall’s elections — and for the next decade.
The decision came after the 11-member redistricting team, made up of Rosenthal, five Republicans and five Democrats, spent a week holed up at the Heldrich Hotel in New Brunswick, sometimes working almost around the clock. The Republican effort to sway Rosenthal included three appearances by Gov. Chris Christie, including today, the first time in recent memory a governor had gotten personally involved in a redistricting fight.
Democrats tonight said they were delighted.
"We satisfied every one of Dr. Rosenthal’s criteria that he established, and that was the basis for him choosing our map," said Democratic State Chairman John Wisniewski, leader of his party’s redistricting team, as visibly excited members of his team stood behind him.
Republicans said they were "disappointed," but that the new map is better than the current one and gives Republicans a better chance at winning seats this fall.
Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-Morris), leader of the GOP’s redistricting team, did not say whether they would challenge the map in court.
"We thought that our submissions and our negotiations brought the Democrats to the middle. We didn’t get the map that we wanted, but the map that was ultimately adopted gave us opportunities," he said.
The new map sacrifices some Democratic incumbent lawmakers, and creates competitive districts for some who are used to winning re-election by large margins. It will be formally unveiled Sunday, but some details leaked slowly today, as Rosenthal mulled proposals from both parties.
Among the highlights, according to two sources close to the process who were unauthorized to speak publicly before Sunday’s formal meeting:
• State Sen. John Girgenti’s hometown of Hawthorne will be separated from his old legislative district, putting him in a Bergen County-dominated district with state Sen. Robert Gordon (D-Bergen). That paves the way for Assemblywoman Nellie Pou (D-Passaic), who is Hispanic, to run for an open state Senate seat.
• An earlier Democratic proposal to combine the districts of state Sens. Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) and Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex) was nixed.
• State Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex) gets a more competitive district than he currently has, losing Orange and gaining some Republican Morris County towns. But he’s not put in the same district as any other incumbents.
Central to the Republicans’ plan was protecting a Democratic incumbent: state Sen. Brian Stack (D-Hudson), who has become a key Christie ally in the Legislature.
Under the plan that was adopted, Stack loses West New York from his district and picks up a larger portion of Jersey City, depriving him of legislative ally Caridad Rodriguez (D-Hudson) and putting him into territory where he has a smaller power base. The Republicans’ plan would have barely changed his district, which would have had a domino effect that would have forced Bayonne to separate from Jersey City and hop across Newark Bay into the Newark.
Republicans said they wanted that because the district was especially small and compact and has helped the careers of prominent Hispanic politicians.
"It’s the only Latino-majority district in the state. It has served as a launching pad for the most accomplished Latino politicians in New Jersey history," said Webber. "And so breaking it up doesn’t make sense."
Information, gathered from maps Democrats showed to a coalition of minority groups that later endorsed their proposal, reveals some other unlucky incumbents:
• Assemblyman Reed Gusciora’s (D-Mercer) hometown of Princeton is removed from its current Trenton-based district. Republicans, in revealing their map, said both parties’ proposal put Princeton in a more Republican district. Gusciora has said he wants to remain the Assembly and may move to a district with more Democratic voters.
• Assemblyman Joseph Malone’s (R-Burlington) hometown of Bordentown was moved from the 30th Legislative District to the 7th Legislative District.
Two other sources close to the redistricting process said the map puts state Sens. Sean Kean (R-Monmouth) and Robert Singer (R-Ocean) in the same district. The sources requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details before Sunday’s commission meeting.
Democrats currently hold 24 of the 40 seats in the state Senate, and 47 out of 80 in the Assembly.
All 120 seats in the Legislature are up for election in November, and primary candidates have a compressed timeframe to gather in nominating petitions, which they must turn in by April 11.
Commissioners and staffers arrived early in the morning and prepared closing arguments for Rosenthal, tossing a coin to decide when each side would present. Christie was there early as well and wouldn’t comment on the process.
"Heck no, you’re not going to get anything out of me," he said.
Republicans and Democrats milled about in the hallways as they awaited Rosenthal’s decision, pacing anxiously and coming to grips with the knowledge that after months and, in some cases, years of work, there was absolutely nothing else they could do.
"To quote Tom Petty, waiting is the hardest part," said Wisniewski.
At one point, all sides broke for lunch. Christie joined the Republicans on one side of the hotel restaurant, while Democrats, separated by a partial glass divider, dined opposite.