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New Jersey Redistricting Commission

August 22, 2023

The New Jersey Redistricting Commission is a constitutional body of the government of New Jersey tasked with redrawing the state's Congressional election districts after each decade's census. Like Arizona, Idaho, Hawaii, Montana, and Washington; the redistricting is completed within an independent, bipartisan commission. The apportionment of members of the Redistricting Commission is carefully balanced between legislative and executive majorities and is purposefully designed to allow the minority party an equal number of seats on the commission.

New Jersey congressional districts, 2002–2010.

This commission deals with districts for the U.S. House of Representatives while the New Jersey Apportionment Commission deals with legislative districts for the New Jersey Legislature.

According to the state Constitution, New Jersey's commission has 13 members. The President of the Senate and Assembly Speaker each name two members; the minority leaders of both houses each name two members and the state's Democratic and Republican chairpersons each name two members. The 12 members then select a 13th tie-breaking member to chair of the commission. If they cannot agree on the 13th member, then each party submits a name to the state's Supreme Court, which chooses one as the 13th member.

The commission is required to hold three public meetings, but is otherwise allowed to meet in private until it releases its new map.[1][2]

2013–2023 Congressional Map

On December 23, 2011, the New Jersey Congressional Redistricting Committee consolidated New Jersey's then 13 House seats into 12 congressional districts due to the results of the 2010 US Census.[3][4]

Even though both houses of the New Jersey State Legislature were controlled by Democrats,[5] and New Jersey's Congressional delegation in Washington, DC was made up of a majority of Democratic members,[6] the half Democrat and half Republican Commission named a Republican, John Farmer, Jr., as its tie-breaker.[7] Farmer was the former Chief Counsel to Republican Governor Christine Todd Whitman and former New Jersey Attorney General under Republican Governors Whitman and Donald Di Francesco. Earlier in the year, Farmer had been counsel to the New Jersey Apportionment Commission, but not a member of that Commission nor the tie-breaker. The tie-breaker on that Commission was Rutgers University Professor Alan Rosenthal, a Democrat.[8]

Of the six Democrats on the New Jersey Congressional Redistricting Commission, none were from Bergen County, which was the largest county by population in New Jersey.[9][10]

On December 23, 2011, the Commission chose a map by a 7–6 vote, with Farmer voting for the map advocated for by Republican members.[11] That map created a new 5th Congressional District, combining parts of the existing 5th Congressional District, represented by Rep. Scott Garrett, with parts of the 8th Congressional District, which was represented by Rep. William Pascrell, and parts of the 9th Congressional District, which was represented by Rep. Steve Rothman.[12][13]

The Republican plan chosen by the Redistricting Commission removed seven of the largest Democratic vote-producing municipalities from the 9th District (the Jersey City, North Bergen, and Kearny sections of the District; Fairview, Hackensack, Fair Lawn and two-thirds of Teaneck) and moved major Passaic County cities and towns (Paterson, Passaic and Clifton, Haledon and Prospect Park) into the 9th Congressional District[13][14]

The incumbent congressmen in both the 8th and 9th districts, Bill Pascrell and Steve Rothman, announced that they would run in the Democratic primary for the redrawn 9th Congressional District.[13] Rothman was defeated by Pascrell in the 2012 Democratic primary[15]

In describing the gerrymandered redistricting, Record editorial page editor Alfred Doblin wrote that "While many folks are looking at the new 5th District as being a combination of the existing 5th and 9th districts, it's really the current 8th District that is getting the lion's share of Rothman's 9th. Rothman's constituents are in what these folks are calling Pascrell's district. From a Pascrell point of view, the conversation is going very nicely indeed. No one has been suggesting that Pascrell is the man under the bus. Few suggested last week that the Republican map was really about two incumbent Democrats battling each other, yet that may very well have been the GOP's intent all along."[16] Doblin continued by writing that Rothman "had been swallowed by a whale," like the Biblical Jonah. He described Rothman as "'a mensch', 'a person of integrity and honor.'"[16]

The 2012 elections immediately after the redistricting resulted in six Democrats and six Republicans being elected, despite President Obama winning the state 58–41% that year.

However, the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections were dominated by a "blue wave" of Democratic wins, with Democrats winning 11 of the 12 districts.[17]

References

  1. ^ New Jersey Constitution of 1947. Article II, Section 2
  2. ^ "NJ Redistricting Commission". NJ Redistricting Commission. Retrieved December 29, 2011.
  3. ^ "NJ Redistricting Commission Adopted Map". www.njredistrictingcommission.org.
  4. ^ Friedman, Matt (December 21, 2010) "N.J. Loses Seat in Congress as Census Bureau Unveils Population Numbers." The Star Ledger.
  5. ^ "New Jersey State Legislature," Ballotpedia, Encyclopedia of American Politics
  6. ^ OFFICE OF THE CLERK, U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, HISTORICAL DATA
  7. ^ Farmer Ready to Serve as 13th Commissioner Set to Certify His Section By Max Pizzaro, July 18, 2011, PolitickerNJ.Com/The Observer
  8. ^ Alan Rosenthal, Who Reshaped Legislatures, Dies. Kate Zernike, July 11, 2013, The New York Times.
  9. ^ "NJ Population by County--Total Residents as of 2012 Census," U.S. -Places.com.
  10. ^ N.J. Redistricting Commission
  11. ^ "GOP wins N.J. congressional redistricting battle". NJ.com. Retrieved November 19, 2018.
  12. ^ "12.6 Committees, Committee Assignments," American Government and Politics in the Information Age, The University of Minnesota Library
  13. ^ a b c Johnston, Sid. (January 2, 2012). "Congressional Districts Change for Several Towns" NorthJersey.Com.
  14. ^ New Jersey Tilts Redistricting Battle Toward GOP; The Washington Post. December 27, 2011
  15. ^ Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives.
  16. ^ a b Dobin, Alfred (December 23, 2011). "Steve Rothman in the Belly Of the Whale." The Record (New Jersey)
  17. ^ Wu, Yan (November 25, 2018). "These 3 maps show how a Democratic 'blue wave' washed over N.J." NJ.com.

External links

  • New Jersey Redistricting Commission website

August 22, 2023
jersey, redistricting, commission, constitutional, body, government, jersey, tasked, with, redrawing, state, congressional, election, districts, after, each, decade, census, like, arizona, idaho, hawaii, montana, washington, redistricting, completed, within, i. The New Jersey Redistricting Commission is a constitutional body of the government of New Jersey tasked with redrawing the state s Congressional election districts after each decade s census Like Arizona Idaho Hawaii Montana and Washington the redistricting is completed within an independent bipartisan commission The apportionment of members of the Redistricting Commission is carefully balanced between legislative and executive majorities and is purposefully designed to allow the minority party an equal number of seats on the commission New Jersey congressional districts 2002 2010 This commission deals with districts for the U S House of Representatives while the New Jersey Apportionment Commission deals with legislative districts for the New Jersey Legislature According to the state Constitution New Jersey s commission has 13 members The President of the Senate and Assembly Speaker each name two members the minority leaders of both houses each name two members and the state s Democratic and Republican chairpersons each name two members The 12 members then select a 13th tie breaking member to chair of the commission If they cannot agree on the 13th member then each party submits a name to the state s Supreme Court which chooses one as the 13th member The commission is required to hold three public meetings but is otherwise allowed to meet in private until it releases its new map 1 2 2013 2023 Congressional Map EditOn December 23 2011 the New Jersey Congressional Redistricting Committee consolidated New Jersey s then 13 House seats into 12 congressional districts due to the results of the 2010 US Census 3 4 Even though both houses of the New Jersey State Legislature were controlled by Democrats 5 and New Jersey s Congressional delegation in Washington DC was made up of a majority of Democratic members 6 the half Democrat and half Republican Commission named a Republican John Farmer Jr as its tie breaker 7 Farmer was the former Chief Counsel to Republican Governor Christine Todd Whitman and former New Jersey Attorney General under Republican Governors Whitman and Donald Di Francesco Earlier in the year Farmer had been counsel to the New Jersey Apportionment Commission but not a member of that Commission nor the tie breaker The tie breaker on that Commission was Rutgers University Professor Alan Rosenthal a Democrat 8 Of the six Democrats on the New Jersey Congressional Redistricting Commission none were from Bergen County which was the largest county by population in New Jersey 9 10 On December 23 2011 the Commission chose a map by a 7 6 vote with Farmer voting for the map advocated for by Republican members 11 That map created a new 5th Congressional District combining parts of the existing 5th Congressional District represented by Rep Scott Garrett with parts of the 8th Congressional District which was represented by Rep William Pascrell and parts of the 9th Congressional District which was represented by Rep Steve Rothman 12 13 The Republican plan chosen by the Redistricting Commission removed seven of the largest Democratic vote producing municipalities from the 9th District the Jersey City North Bergen and Kearny sections of the District Fairview Hackensack Fair Lawn and two thirds of Teaneck and moved major Passaic County cities and towns Paterson Passaic and Clifton Haledon and Prospect Park into the 9th Congressional District 13 14 The incumbent congressmen in both the 8th and 9th districts Bill Pascrell and Steve Rothman announced that they would run in the Democratic primary for the redrawn 9th Congressional District 13 Rothman was defeated by Pascrell in the 2012 Democratic primary 15 In describing the gerrymandered redistricting Record editorial page editor Alfred Doblin wrote that While many folks are looking at the new 5th District as being a combination of the existing 5th and 9th districts it s really the current 8th District that is getting the lion s share of Rothman s 9th Rothman s constituents are in what these folks are calling Pascrell s district From a Pascrell point of view the conversation is going very nicely indeed No one has been suggesting that Pascrell is the man under the bus Few suggested last week that the Republican map was really about two incumbent Democrats battling each other yet that may very well have been the GOP s intent all along 16 Doblin continued by writing that Rothman had been swallowed by a whale like the Biblical Jonah He described Rothman as a mensch a person of integrity and honor 16 The 2012 elections immediately after the redistricting resulted in six Democrats and six Republicans being elected despite President Obama winning the state 58 41 that year However the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections were dominated by a blue wave of Democratic wins with Democrats winning 11 of the 12 districts 17 References Edit New Jersey Constitution of 1947 Article II Section 2 NJ Redistricting Commission NJ Redistricting Commission Retrieved December 29 2011 NJ Redistricting Commission Adopted Map www njredistrictingcommission org Friedman Matt December 21 2010 N J Loses Seat in Congress as Census Bureau Unveils Population Numbers The Star Ledger New Jersey State Legislature Ballotpedia Encyclopedia of American Politics OFFICE OF THE CLERK U S HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HISTORICAL DATA Farmer Ready to Serve as 13th Commissioner Set to Certify His Section By Max Pizzaro July 18 2011 PolitickerNJ Com The Observer Alan Rosenthal Who Reshaped Legislatures Dies Kate Zernike July 11 2013 The New York Times NJ Population by County Total Residents as of 2012 Census U S Places com N J Redistricting Commission GOP wins N J congressional redistricting battle NJ com Retrieved November 19 2018 12 6 Committees Committee Assignments American Government and Politics in the Information Age The University of Minnesota Library a b c Johnston Sid January 2 2012 Congressional Districts Change for Several Towns NorthJersey Com New Jersey Tilts Redistricting Battle Toward GOP The Washington Post December 27 2011 Office of the Clerk U S House of Representatives a b Dobin Alfred December 23 2011 Steve Rothman in the Belly Of the Whale The Record New Jersey Wu Yan November 25 2018 These 3 maps show how a Democratic blue wave washed over N J NJ com External links EditNew Jersey Redistricting Commission website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title New Jersey Redistricting Commission amp oldid 1169767524, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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