New legislative map changes District 37 Friday, April 8, 2011
BY MARK J. BONAMO
Hackensack Chronicle
MANAGING EDITOR
HACKENSACK — When the final lines for New Jersey’s new legislative district map were announced on April 3, the once-every-10-year phenomenon had some predictably unpredictable consequences.
NEW JERSEY APPORTIONMENT COMMISSION
New Jersey’s new legislative district map was released April 3.
The bipartisan, 10-member state commission empowered to create the districts from which voters will elect the entire state Legislature this November, including all 80 members of the Assembly and 40 members of the Senate, was deadlocked after two months of public testimony and a week of intense private negotiations before the April 3 announcement.
Then Rutgers Professor Alan Rosenthal, the commission’s nonpartisan 11th member, broke the tie, announcing that he believed that the Democrats’ map was more in line with "the current distribution of partisan preferences in New Jersey," as well as more closely fulfilling the legal and constitutional obligations of legislative redistricting.
"It is a map, I believe, that gives the minority party a chance at winning control of the Legislature in what is essentially a Democratic state," added Rosenthal just before casting his deciding vote in a Trenton legislative hearing room.
Rosenthal’s resolution will ripple throughout the Garden State. Statewide, the Republican resurgence, clearly seen in Governor Christie’s decisive win in the 2009 gubernatorial election, may slow down. In the 37th Legislative District, Hackensack remains the largest municipality. However, several satellite towns to Bergen County’s capital have now been spun off to other districts. And the addition of Fort Lee to the district proves something long known about New Jersey politics: the only thing that is certain is change.
Hackensack joined by Fort Lee in 37th The new state legislative districts were created to align with population changes documented in the most recent census. The new districts, although facing a potential legal challenge from state Republicans, will be in place for the June primaries and the November general election, when the composition of the entire Legislature will be decided.
Hackensack witnessed some of its nearest neighbors departing from its 37th Legislative District home. Rochelle Park and Maywood have now both become members of the 38th Legislative District, thanks to the new map. Bergenfield has also been joined the 38th District, while Ridgefield Park has joined the 36th District.
In the newly drawn 37th District, Hackensack is still grouped together with Bogota, Englewood, Englewood Cliffs, Leonia, Palisades Park, Teaneck and Tenafly. However, a mix of municipalities, including Alpine, Cresskill, Northvale and Rockleigh, has now been joined to it.
The most noteworthy addition to the district is Fort Lee, a municipality similar in size and diversity to Hackensack. Approximately 30 percent of Fort Lee’s population is Asian-American, a number that is rising steadily and is a reflection of the demographic group’s growth statewide. Asian-Americans now make up nearly 20 percent of the state’s population.
Senator Weinberg assesses the new map’s impact While noting that the district she represents remains largely Democratic, state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) also pointed to the new additions to the 37th District as the continuation of a trend in her political life.
"I started out in Teaneck, one of the most diverse communities in the state of New Jersey," Weinberg said. "The Asian-American community is a growing population that is becoming more involved in civic life. I hope to help them get involved, both in terms of running for office locally and statewide at some point."
Regarding the impact of a newly complete statewide legislative district map generally seen to favor Democrats, Weinberg provided perspective.
"In the short run, it means that the Democrats have the best chance [in the upcoming elections], providing they provide good government, to maintain control of the Legislature," Weinberg said. "This is extremely important, because this governor has plans to not only dismantle public unions, but to dismantle the whole public school system in the state."
While Weinberg and Christie clearly do not see eye-to-eye regarding many issues, including pension reform, health care and education, Weinberg dismissed any discussion of Christie’s potential national ambitions as his political star continues to rise despite the legislative map setback.
"I don’t care about frustrating Chris Christie’s ambitions – that’s up to the voters in New Jersey or nationally," Weinberg said. "What I’m interested in are his plans to dismantle the public school system, granting a huge amount of new charter schools with very little accountability, taking away women’s access to health care and taking away a woman’s right to choose. Those are the things that I’m interested in."
Voter participation even more important than new map Dr. Brigid Harrison, professor of political science and law at Montclair State University, agreed that the new legislative map favors the Democrats at least in the short term, and will shape the state’s political landscape in the long term.
"The outcome almost assures the governor of the status quo in terms of his relationship with the Legislature," Harrison said. "For the next several years, it appears that there will be Democratic majorities in both chambers. It enables the governor to blame not just the Legislature, but also the Democratic-controlled Legislature. But then again, this type of divided government can be beneficial to both the executive and legislative branches. People tend to like divided government."
Harrison noted that the state legislative district fight could be seen as practice for the upcoming federal Congressional redistricting, which will begin June 15 after the appointment of a commission for this task. This group will have a January deadline to realign districts to follow new population figures. These census figures have indicated that New Jersey will lose one of its 13 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
No matter whether New Jersey is ultimately a Democratic, Republican or in-between state, the legislative map is not just an arbitrary collection of lines and colors. According to Harrison, it is meant to be drawn up according to the political will of New Jersey’s voters.
"When we draw these maps, one of the things that we look at is [voter] turnout," Harrison said. "The state legislative district map has changed, and now the Congressional district map is going to change significantly as well."
E-mail: bonamo@northjersey.com
