Legislative Redistricting: District 22 Outcome

The 22nd District remains unchanged for another decade.

With the vote of Rutgers professor Alan Rosenthal, the tie between the Democratic and Republican versions of the legislative redistricting map for the next decade was decided Sunday at noon.

Plainfield's legislative district, the 22nd, remains unchanged for another ten years (see map above and breakout below).

Screen shot of actual Excel spreadsheet
put out by state (tallies added by DD).

While there are changes around the state that will make many districts more competitive and increase the chances for more minority representation, District 22 seems to be a quiet backwater.

But it would be a mistake to consider this a completely safe district for Democrats.

As Assemblyman Jerry Green can tell you, his Republican opponents came within a very respectable striking distance in the last Assembly race. With new faces expected after the current go-round, it will be up to the Dems to put up a credible candidate against a resurgent GOP.

Political life could prove quite interesting in the next few years.

As for those pundits saying Rosenthal 'chose the Dem map', I prefer to think of it as his choosing the map of the party that took his brief on what a 'fair' redistricting would look like seriously, and proposing a plan that met his criteria (if not 100%, certainly better than the GOP did).

See the media's takes on the story via the links at the end of the post.

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• Websites --
• PolNJ:  "Official map and breakdown of towns" -- PDF file and Excel spreadsheet.
• Ledger:  "Commission approves Dem-proposed legislative map"
• Gannett:  "New districts to reconfigure delegations"
• NJ Spotlight:  "Redistricting map preserves incumbent advantage"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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