As states across the country continue to redraw voting districts following the Supreme Court’s ruling on the Voting Rights Act, New Jersey could join the fray.
In a recent CNN interview, Governor Mikie Sherrill said she would be open to the idea of redistricting New Jersey in an attempt to reshape power in the House of Representatives.
Specifically, the governor said that the Garden State would “stand up” to the Trump Administration’s attempts to “cheat the system.”
“This is so typical of Trump. Wrongly claiming that there is a huge problem with voting, for example, and then making a huge problem with voting,” Sherrill said in the interview. “So, he’s gone after all the redistricting, trying to cheat the system, trying to make it so that (Republicans) can unfairly win, and he can unfairly win these seats… Because he hasn’t governed well, and he knows that a blue wave is coming.”
Sherill said that several steps would need to be taken for the Garden State to “create a counterbalance” to the president’s redistricting attempts. With New Jersey’s district maps typically redrawn every decade, following the census, there would be constitutional limitations to redraw districts immediately.
“We’d have to get some votes through, but I’d certainly be willing to work with the legislature to do that,” she said.
When asked if she would encourage redistricting, Sherill said, “Depending on how these maps go, certainly.”
What is redistricting, and what does it look like in NJ?
At its core, redistricting is the process of redrawing the boundaries of congressional and state legislative districts to reflect population changes and ideally, properly represent those populations equally.
Gerrymandering is using the redistricting process in an attempt to rig maps to favor certain candidates or political parties. In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that partisan gerrymandering claims could not be taken to federal court.
See a video below, created by Duke University, that further discusses these processes:
New Jersey has 12 representative seats, nine held by Democrats, and three held by Republicans — a 3:1 ratio.
If Sherill’s ambitions of redistricting materialize, New Jersey Republicans face the possibility of losing any of their three seats in the House. In other words, if districts are remapped to reflect more Democratic voters than registered Republicans, the GOP could represent less than 25 percent of the Garden State.
Ideally for Sherill, this would help “counterbalance” the Republican redistricting advantages being seen in states like Louisiana, Florida, and Texas.
The move would follow the likes of other blue states, including California.
Even if the constitutional amendment to allow an off-cycle redistricting was approved, it wouldn’t be in time for the 2026 primaries. If all goes well for Sherrill, maps wouldn’t be redrawn until 2028, years before they are required to be redrawn anyway following the 2030 census.
Bipartisan Doubts
New Jersey officials on both sides of the aisle have expressed doubts and concerns about an off-cycle redrawing of the Garden State’s districts.
Senate President Nick Scutari, D‑Union, told Politico in November, “I don’t see that happening. Not in New Jersey. It requires a constitutional amendment and we’re not in a position to do that.”
Sen. Declan O’Scanlon, R‑Monmouth, told NJ.com, “I would hope New Jersey would not follow down that path,” when asked about the redistricting.
State Sen. Andrew Zwicker, D‑Middlesex, told NJ.com that he doesn't think "the juice is worth the squeeze," given that New Jersey Democrats already outweigh Republicans by 75 percent.
As it stands, no officials moves have been made yet, but it appears that Sherrill is keeping her options open on the matter.
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