TRENTON — Alan Rosenthal, whose vote Sunday decided what the state’s 40 legislative districts will look like for the next decade, said siding with Democrats was the hardest decision he can remember making. "I tried to get the commissioners of the two parties together on one map. That didn’t work. So I strove to make each of the various...
TRENTON — Alan Rosenthal, whose vote Sunday decided what the state’s 40 legislative districts will look like for the next decade, said siding with Democrats was the hardest decision he can remember making.
"I tried to get the commissioners of the two parties together on one map. That didn’t work. So I strove to make each of the various improvements in their own maps," said Rosenthal, 78, a professor of public policy at Rutgers University. "I wanted it to be a tough decision. It was."
Rosenthal’s vote with the Democrats means the party, which controls the state Senate and Assembly, will retain an advantage going into November’s legislative elections, when all 120 seats are up. "This map was created without regard to personalities, without regard to who is in what district, without regard to any political agenda other than to win Dr. Rosenthal’s support," said Democratic State Chairman John Wisniewski, who led the Democrats’ redistricting team.
Republicans were less than thrilled. Assemblyman Jay Webber (R-Morris), leader of the GOP’s redistricting team, said districts in south Jersey tended to be larger than districts in northern New Jersey. "People in Southern New Jersey will have their votes count less than people in northern New Jersey," he said.
Webber also criticized the new map for not expanding the number of districts where African-Americans and Latinos made up a majority of the population. Democrats had derided that strategy as a way to "bleach" other legislative districts of minorities who tend to vote Democratic, and accused Republicans of centering their map around a political "hit list."
Republicans tried to question Rosenthal on his decision Sunday, but he declined. In a brief phone interview, Rosenthal said he did not want to comment because litigation over the map is likely.
The new map spells trouble for the political careers of some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Assemblyman Reed Gusciora’s (D-Mercer) hometown, Princeton, is put into a Republican-leaning district dominated by Somerset County. Gusciora says he’s going to move so he can represent a district similar to the one where he’s held an Assembly seat since 1996. State Sen. Shirley Turner (R-Mercer) said she will run on a ticket with Guisciora and Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer). "We’re all for one and one for all," she said.
State Sen. John Girgenti, separated from his district and put in one with state Sen. Robert Gordon (D-Bergen), is considering moving to Paterson to run in his old district.
Assemblywoman Joan Voss (D-Bergen), her hometown of Fort Lee tossed into unfamiliar territory with two other Democratic incumbents, recognizes her own prospects are dim but wouldn’t completely rule out running for reelection. "I would certainly have liked to run again, but with the redistricting there’s really not much I can do."
Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D-Essex) is put together with Assembly members L. Grace Spencer (D-Essex) and Albert Coutinho (D-Essex).
Assemblyman Jack Conners (D-Camden) is moved into a district with two other Democratic incumbents. Assemblyman Joseph Malone (R-Burlington), put into a tougher district, said he had already been considering retiring and will make a decision this week. And state Sen. Robert Singer (R-Ocean) said he’s definitely going to seek reelection, whether or not state Sen. Sean Kean (R-Monmouth) who he now shares a district with, runs.
But as political careers hit a wall, pathways opened up for new candidates. As Gusciora plotted his future, longtime Lambertville Mayor David DelVecchio, president of the New Jersey Conference of Mayors, said he’s considering running for that seat.
Attorney Jeff Gardner, a Democrat who had been running a primary against Girgenti, said he’ll now run for Assembly in his new district instead.