Former Senate President Steve Sweeney today accused members of the Democratic Party in the Distribution Commission of agreeing to a map of the agreement, saying they had “done nothing but political negligence”.
“Ten years ago, when Democrats in New Jersey outnumbered Republicans by just over 300,000, we were able to build a map that included 27 Democratic constituencies,” Sweeney said in a statement citing Democratic Speaker Leroy Jones. “Now that there are more than a million Democrats, this commission is agreeing to a map that divides the four incumbent Democratic senators into two constituencies.”
Last month, Jones expelled Sweeney from the card drawing commission.
“Now it was clear to me that I had been expelled from the commission, for it was known that I would never allow it; it’s scary to see what’s happening in front of us, “he said.
As a result of merging the four incumbents into two constituencies, there will be two more Democrats who will fill the vacancies.
The new map, which will run from the 2023 election to the end of the decade, helps Republicans hold at least four South Jersey counties they overturned in 2019 and 2021, and gives the Republican Party a chance to win in the 4th Legislature for the first time since 2001.
