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Redistricting in New Jersey after the 2010 census

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Public Policy Logo-one line.pngin New Jersey

Note: Redistricting takes place every 10 years after completion of the United States Census. The information here pertains to the 2010 redistricting process. For information on more recent redistricting developments, see this article.


Redistricting in New Jersey
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General information
Partisan control:
Alaska
Process:
New Jersey Redistricting Commission
Deadline:
April 3, 2011 for state legislative districts. January 17, 2012 for congressional redistricting.
Total seats
Congress:
12
State Senate:
40
State House:
80

This article details the timeline of redistricting events in New Jersey following the 2010 census. It also provides contextual information about the redistricting process and census information.

Process

See also: State-by-state redistricting procedures

The New Jersey Redistricting Commission was responsible for redistricting. This was one of 11 commissions nationwide in 2011 that was responsible for redistricting. This redistricting commission was composed of 10 members, chosen by the following:

If a plan was not in place, the New Jersey Supreme Court selected an 11th member.

State law did not require the Redistricting Commission to hold public hearings[1]. The Commission did hold public hearings and launched a website giving the public a chance to offer input[2].

The New Jersey Constitution provided authority for the creation of and detailed the duties of an Apportionment Commission in Section III of Article IV.

Leadership

2011 Legislative Commission members

Figure 1: This map shows the New Jersey Congressional Districts after the 2000 census.

In 2011, the 11 members of the New Jersey Redistricting Commission for legislative boundaries were[3]:
Democrats[4]

Republicans[5]

The five Democrats and five Republicans worked together on a redistricting plan. An 11th member -- Alan Rosenthal -- was appointed by State Supreme Court Justice Stuart Rabner on March 3, 2011, after Democrats and Republicans could not agree on a plan.[6] Rosenthal had a history of involvement in the redistricting process, having played the role of tie-breaking member in the previous 2 redistricting processes.[7]

The commission was to vote on a decision for legislative districts on April 3, 2011 at the Heldrich Hotel.[8]

2011 Congressional Commission members

The Democrats and Republicans each appointed 6 members to the commission on June 15, 2011.[9] Those 12 members had until July 15, 2011 to choose an independent, 13th member. Otherwise, the New Jersey Supreme Court was to appoint the final commissioner, who would serve as chair.

Democrats[10]

Republicans[10]

  • Caroline Casagrande, current Assemblywoman
  • Michael DuHaime, advisor to Governor Chris Christie
  • Sherine El-Abd, former official at Department of Community Affairs
  • Aubrey Fenton, former Burlington County freeholder
  • Eric Jaso, Morris County attorney
  • M. Susan Sheppard, former Cape May County freeholder

13th member

Farmer was chosen as the tiebreaker by the 12 original commissioners. The appointment was made on July 18, 2011. Farmer served as counsel to Alan Rosenthal during the state legislative redistricting process.[12]

Census Results

New Jersey lost a congressional seat in the 2010 Census. This reduced the state from 13 to 12 congressional districts[13].

The State of New Jersey received its local Census data on February 3, 2011.[14][15] The five most populous cities in the 2010 Census were Newark with 277,140, Jersey City with 247,597, Paterson with 146,199, Elizabeth with 124,969 and Edison with 99,967.[15] When compared to the 2000 Census, Newark grew by 1.3 percent, Jersey City grew by 3.1 percent, Elizabeth grew by 3.7 percent, and Edison grew by 2.3 percent.[15] Paterson lost 2 percent of its population compared to the 2000 Census.[15]

Congressional redistricting

General Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D) discusses the early stages of the congressional redistricting process.

September 2011: Process began

On September 6, 2011 the congressional redistricting commission began redrawing New Jersey’s 12 U.S. House districts down from the previous total of 13. Commission chairman John Farmer Jr. -- the independent -- said the process would likely go down to the wire as commissioners negotiated over which district was eliminated. There were three public hearings held in the following months, the first on September 22.[16]

December 2011: Map approved

On December 23, 2011, the commission approved a new map that placed incumbents Steve Rothman (D) and Scott Garrett (R) in the same district. Independent chair John Farmer cast his vote with the Republican-favored map.[17]

Legislative redistricting

Republican and Latino alliance

New Jersey's population as of 2011 was 18 percent Latino. Martin Perez, president of the Latino Leadership Alliance, said the seven Latino state lawmakers proved there was under-representation of Latinos in state government.[18] In 2011, some Latino groups partnered with Republicans to promote more Latino-centric districts. Perez accused Democrats of packing a large proportion of minority citizens into one district.[19]

In some possible maps, Republicans and Latinos formed an alliance that would create more Latino-heavy districts in order to elect more Latino legislators, but would also reduce the total number of districts where Latinos have a large presence. Hispanics surpassed Black people as the second-largest demographic in New Jersey.[20] One map that surfaced in late February showed three majority Hispanic districts in Essex, Hudson, and Union counties. That map also combined Newark and Elizabeth, which could have pit incumbent Democratic senators Raymond Lesniak and Teresa Ruiz against one another in the next election.[21] The Montclair NAACP said that it planned to consider challenging the legislative maps if minorities did not have proper representation.[22]

January 2011: Public input debate

Both Democrats and Republicans said public hearings were important to the redistricting debate. However, there was disagreement over the method by which public input should be acquired.[23] Republicans scheduled four public hearings that they invited Democratic leaders to attend. Meanwhile, Democratic chairman John Wisniewski said advice they received indicated having a structure in place before holding public sessions was imperative.[24]


Jay Webber (R) discusses redistricting.

The four Republican hearings were scheduled for the following dates:[25]

  • Wednesday, January 12 at 6 pm, Rutgers Law School, Newark
  • Thursday, January 13 at 6 pm, Hudson County Community College, Jersey City
  • Tuesday, January 18 at 6 pm, Rowan University, Glassboro
  • Thursday, January 20 at 6 pm, Ocean County Administration Building, Toms River

Wisniewski responded to Webber's letter, emphasizing that the Republican Committee chair did not have "authority to unilaterally call Apportionment Commission public hearings."[23]

Both sides indicated they would not attend the meetings being organized by the other side.

MArch 2011: 11th Commission Member

Figure 2: This map was submitted by the Bayshore Tea Party in March 2011 to the redistricting commission for consideration in redrawing the state legislative districts.

On March 3, 2011, the commission reached a stalemate, which dictated that an 11th member would be appointed. For the third consecutive decade, Alan Rosenthal was chosen as the tie-breaking member.[6] Democrats and Republicans could not agree on a map, in large part due to disagreements over how to address minority representation. Republicans pushed for majority-minority districts. Democrats were in favor of spreading out the minority blocs.[26]

On February 26, Rosenthal met individually with the Democratic and Republican commissioners to begin discussing his role and how the process would advance.[27] "This may come as a big surprise. Republicans seem to want a map that advantages Republicans and Democrats seem to want a map that advantages Democrats. But we have in the United States and New Jersey a competitive two-party system. And it’s understandable that the two parties compete in the processes of redistricting and reapportionment," Rosenthal said after the first official meeting that he attended.[28] While Rosenthal said he hoped to see a compromise map, he says if no consensus can be reached he will ultimately choose one party's map.[29]

In a public news conference, Rosenthal said he believed the state districts should not deviate in size by more than 5 percent (after 2001 it was 7.5 percent). Another of his priorities was continuity of representation, in other words, maintaining as much familiarity for incumbents with their districts as possible.[30]

The nine outlined priorities from Rosenthal were:[31]

  1. Create population equality between districts, preferably with no more than a 5 percent population deviation
  2. Avoid splitting municipalities between two legislative districts
  3. Keep districts contiguous
  4. Keep districts as compact as possible
  5. Preserve communities of interest
  6. Maintain continuity of representation for most voters -- in essence allowing incumbents to keep as many of their constituents as possible
  7. Preserve or slightly increase the number of competitive districts where both parties have a reasonable ability to win seats.
  8. Provide opportunities for minority representation
  9. Promote partisan fairness

March 2011: Governor Christie Involvement

Governor Chris Christie (R) reportedly made an appearance at some of the final redistricting hearings at the end of March -- an action that was criticized by some Democratic legislators.[32] Additionally, one newspaper columnist said Christie's appearance was unprecedented.[33]

March 2011: Tea Party map

Figure 3: This map was submitted by the New Jersey Legislative Redistricting Coalition in March 2011 to the redistricting commission for consideration in redrawing the state legislative districts.

In late March, Tea Party members submitted their own version of a new legislative map to the 11-member commission (See Figure 2). Dubbing it, The People's Map, Bayshore Tea Party members said their version was constitutional. "We prepared our map irrespective of partisan interests and for all the people of the State of New Jersey," said Sean Spinello, the mapmaker, in a letter to independent commission member Alan Rosenthal.[34]

March 2011: New Jersey Legislative Redistricting Coalition Map

In late March 2011, the New Jersey Legislative Redistricting Coalition submitted a map for consideration to the redistricting commission (See Figure 3 for the map).[35][36]

Final Legislative Map

This is the final map as approved by the New Jersey redistricting commission. These districts will be in place until 2020.

The 11th commission member -- Alan Rosenthal -- chose which map he would cast his tie-breaking vote in favor of. Rosenthal went with the Democrats' map, stating that it "reflected the current distribution of partisan preferences in New Jersey."[37]

General Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D), co-chair of the commission, said that the population deviation in districts was less than in previous redistricting maps. "It’s a pretty good day for us, and not so good for the governor, who put a lot on the line," Wisniewski said.[38] Wisniewski is referring to Governor Christie's late involvement in the process, where he attended several meetings to vouch for his preferences.

However, General Assemblyman Jay Webber (R), chair of the Republican members of the commission, voiced both displeasure and optimism with the final map -- although he would not discount a possible lawsuit. "We are very disappointed with Dr. Rosenthal's decision. We were very sure that we have the better map. And while we didn't get the map that we wanted, the map that was ultimately produced is better than the one that exists today. Even though we didn't get the map New Jersey deserves, we're getting something that Republicans can run in and win.[39] The new map could force at least 6 retirements or re-locations of current legislators. Two Senate districts pit two incumbents against one another.[40]

Among the changes to the map:[41]

  • Somerset County would now be split among four districts. Before, it was in two.
  • The new 12th District included parts of Monmouth, Ocean, Burlington and Middlesex counties.

Legal issues

See also: Redistricting lawsuits relating to the 2010 Census

April 2011: Bayshore Tea Party suit

On April 21, 2011, the Bayshore Tea Party filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the new state legislative districts. The suit was joined by 38 other plaintiffs from 21 counties. The central allegation was that southern districts were generally larger than legislative districts in the northern part of New Jersey.[42] Also, the splitting of Newark and Jersey City from three districts to two was said to be unconstitutional in the lawsuit.[43]

On August 31, 2011, that lawsuit was thrown out by Judge Linda Feinberg. In her 80-page ruling, Feinberg said the math used by the Tea Party group was flawed.[44]

History

Deviation from Ideal Districts

2000 population deviation[45]
Office Percentage
Congressional districts 0.00%
State house districts 1.83%
State senate districts 1.83%
Under federal law, districts could vary from an Ideal District by up to 10%, though the lowest number achievable was preferred. Ideal Districts were computed through simple division of the number of seats for any office into the population at the time of the Census.

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ NJ.com, "N.J. legislative redistricting commission starts process that will redraw congressional lines" 18 Jan. 2011
  2. ↑ MyCentralJersey, "NJ redistricting process to include public input" 18 Jan. 2011
  3. ↑ [Confirmed with Congressman Lance's Chief of Staff via phone on January 20, 2011]
  4. ↑ Politickernj, "Wisniewski fields his redistricting team," September 24, 2010
  5. ↑ Examiner New Jersey GOP picks state redistricting team," November 13, 2010
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Star Ledger, "Rutgers professor is appointed as tie-breaking 11th member on N.J. redistricting commission," March 4, 2011
  7. ↑ NCSL The Thicket, "Legislative Scholar in the Middle of New Jersey Redistricting Fight," March 15, 2011
  8. ↑ Daily Record, "Decision awaited on map redrawing state's legislative districts," March 31, 2011
  9. ↑ Newsday, "NJ congressional redistricting commission picked," June 15, 2011 (dead link)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Asbury Park Press, "Members of congressional redistricting panel chosen," June 16, 2011
  11. ↑ Newark Examiner, "The congressional redistricting tiebreaker is chosen," July 18, 2011
  12. ↑ North Jersey.com, "Sources: Former attorney general to be named to redistricting panel," July 15, 2011
  13. ↑ Daily Princetonian, "New Jersey will lose 13th seat in next Congress" 5 Jan. 2011
  14. ↑ Star Ledger, "With release of census data, N.J. Legislature has 60 days to come up with redistricting map," February 3, 2011
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 U.S. Census Bureau, "U.S. Census Bureau Delivers New Jersey's 2010 Census Population Totals, Including First Look at Race and Hispanic Origin Data for Legislative Redistricting" 3 Feb. 2011
  16. ↑ NBC New York, "NJ Congressional Districts to Get Redrawn," September 6, 2011
  17. ↑ Star Ledger, "GOP wins N.J. congressional redistricting battle," December 23, 20
  18. ↑ North Jersey.com, "N.J. redistricting commission holds third public hearing," February 9, 2011
  19. ↑ Essex County Examiner, "In NJ, GOP and Latinos ally on redistricting," February 16, 2011
  20. ↑ Fox News Latino, "New Jersey Hispanics Debate How to Redistrict – Should Their Voice Be Concentrated in Some Areas, Or Spread Over Many?" February 28, 2011
  21. ↑ Politicker NJ "First map surfaces out of redistricting effort," February 18, 2011
  22. ↑ Montclair Patch, "Montclair NAACP Speaks Out On Redistricting," March 17, 2011
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 New Jersey Newsroom Democrats say no agreement on public hearings for N.J. legislative reapportionment," January 6, 2011
  24. ↑ Politickernj, "Parties battle over redistricting hearings," January 5, 2011
  25. ↑ Letter from Jay Webber to John Wisniewski on January 4, 2011
  26. ↑ Politicker NJ "Redistricting D-day," March 3, 2011
  27. ↑ PolitickerNJ "Rosenthal meets with redistricting teams," February 26, 2011
  28. ↑ Star Ledger, "N.J. redistricting commission struggles over redrawing legislative districts," March 10, 2011
  29. ↑ Newsworks, "N.J. redistricting panel begins work on map," March 11, 2011
  30. ↑ Politicker NJ "The "De Minimis" Map," March 15, 2011
  31. ↑ NJ spotlight, "Mapping out New Jersey's Minority Representation," March 11, 2011
  32. ↑ WNYC "Christie crashes redistricting party," March 29, 2011
  33. ↑ North Jersey.com, "Christie an unwanted distraction for meeting," March 29, 2011
  34. ↑ Star Ledger, "Tea party group submits proposed N.J. legislative redistricting map to commission," March 25, 2011
  35. ↑ Ocean County Conservative Examiner, "NJRLC releases redistricting map," March 23, 2011
  36. ↑ Asbury Park Press, "Minority groups release proposed legislative map,' March 24, 2011
  37. ↑ North Jersey.com, "New Jersey redistricting panel OKs new map drawn by Democrats," April 3, 2011
  38. ↑ New York Times, "New Districts Seen as Aiding Democrats in New Jersey," April 3, 2011
  39. ↑ Daily Record, "Chosen NJ legislative redistricting map favors Dems," April 2, 2011
  40. ↑ Asbury Park Press, "Panel OKs NJ legislative map favored by Democrats," April 3, 2011
  41. ↑ Star Ledger, "Redistricting: There's got to be a better way," April 5, 2011
  42. ↑ Star Ledger, "N.J. tea party group files suit challenging constitutionality of new legislative district map," April 21, 2011
  43. ↑ WNYC "Tea Partiers Sue Over NJ Redistricting Map," April 21, 2011
  44. ↑ Star Ledger, "Tea party lawsuit challenging new N.J. legislative district map is dismissed," August 31, 2011
  45. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, “Redistricting 2000 Population Deviation Table”," accessed February 1, 2011
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