New Jersey Commission Approves New Congressional Map
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday morning, the New Jersey Congressional Redistricting Commission approved a new congressional map, voting on party lines to adopt the map proposed by the Democratic commissioners. Commission Chair and former New Jersey Supreme Court Justice John Wallace, Jr. cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of the Democratic map. In New Jersey, the congressional map is drawn by a bipartisan 13-member commission and the legislative maps similarly by a 10- or 11-member commission; both commissions are composed of legislative leaders, state party chairs and additional appointed commissioners.
Notably, the new congressional map was not released to the public for prior comment before approval and the Democratic and Republican commissioners did not even exchange their draft maps with each other.
The new map creates a more competitive, and potentially unwinnable district, for Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.), who flipped New Jersey’s 7th District in 2018 and narrowly won re-election last year. Three other Democratic incumbents who previously faced highly competitive races were drawn into more favorable districts. The map is expected to create nine Democratic seats and three Republican seats in New Jersey’s congressional delegation. The current split is 10-2 for Democrats. The New Jersey Legislative Apportionment Committee has until March 1, 2022 to adopt new legislative redistricting plans.