With Districts Redrawn, Washington Twp. Gets Stronger Ties to Rest of Morris County

Washington Township's moving to the 25th legislative district, more clearly cementing its ties to Morris County in the state legislature. And the community's local Republican leader says that's a "good thing for us."

Guy Gregg, municipal chair for Washington Township in the Morris County Republican Committee, said the move makes "for a very strong, very influential district." Gregg is a former assembylman in the 24th District, which Washington Township is leaving.

“Morris County represented the greatest plurality in the state for [Republican Gov. Chris] Christie in 2009, and I think this now makes 25 an even stronger district," Gregg said.

The changes come as political lines shift throughout New Jersey. The commission responsible for drawing the state's legislative districts in the aftermath of the 2010 census has made its decision, and approved a legislative map favored by Democrats overall.

The redistricting process involved a commission of five Democrats and five Republicans, the latter with political support from Christie. Each side drew its own map for the state, and a tiebreaker vote was cast over the weekend by a non-partisan, judge-appointed commission member, Rutgers public policy professor Alan Rosenthal. The professor sided with the Democrats, saying their map was less disruptive to the state.

The largely Sussex and Warren County-based 24th District is left with one Morris County community, Mount Olive. The 24th District (currently served by state Sen. Steven V. Oroho, Assemblyman Gary R. Chiusano, and Assemblywoman Allison Littel McHose, all Republicans) lost Washington Township, Califon, the Chesters, Netcong and Tewksbury. It picked up Allamuchy, Belvidere, Blairstown, Frelinghuysen, Hardwick, Hope, Independence, Knowlton, Liberty, Oxford and White.

In the 25th District, Washington Township joins a swath of communities in the heart of Morris County, represented by state Sen. Anthony R. Bucco, Assemblyman Anthony M. Bucco (the senator's son), and Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, all Republicans. Scroll down to the bottom of this article to see a breakdown of the new 24th and 25th Districts.

In both the district it leaves behind and the district it joins, Washington Township is represented by Republicans.

Sally Hudson, Washington Township chair for the Morris County Democratic Committee, said her party will continue to fight uphill battles in the largely Republican municipality. Like her Republican counterpart, she said the move to the 25th district provides greater continuity among Morris County communities.

“It certainly makes the county more cohesive,” she said.

Gregg said he wasn't surprised that Rosenthal sided with Democrats on their statewide legislative map.

"But his tenets were that he didn’t want to be disruptive to voters, and wanted a continuity of counties," Gregg said. "But a lot of the districts have been changed to include two and even three counties. I think the whole process is sort of like rearranging the deck chairs."

Hudson defended Rosenthal's choice with the same rationale he presented for picking the Democrats' map—that it was less disruptive to the state that the Republican map. 

“It’s clearly indicative of what’s going on with both parties,” Hudson said. “The Democrats have become more moderate and forward-looking, while it just seems the Republicans are blowing hot air.”

Impact on the 24th District

Oroho, the 24th legislative district senator, said he found the changes disappointing.

“We were very happy with the district we had,” Oroho said. “We think the district was right where it should be. It’s disappointing to lose those towns [including Washington Township]. We established a lot of relationships and made a lot of friends in those towns.”

A resident of Sussex County, Oroho knows the challenge ahead of him now that the 24th district includes even more of widespread Warren County.

“I drove 65,000 miles last year because of the size of 24,” Oroho said. “So, what’s a few more miles?”

Oroho said he had expected the majority of redistricting changes to take place in the northeastern and southern parts of the state.

“I highly doubt there are any counties that should be divvied up into more than three districts,” he said.

But Oroho said he and his peers in the legislature would adjust.

“Maybe more than any other district in the state, based on the population numbers, the 24th could’ve been kept the same,” Oroho said. “But we’re going to play whatever role we can to help. We need to have the customer-service attitude; we’ll meet new people and establish new relationships. Hopefully this can help us to foster a bigger coalition of supporters.”

Impact on the 25th District

Assemblyman Bucco, son of the senator, said he's glad that "the towns that we picked up [including Washington Township] are good, solid Republican towns. They've got great Republican leadership in those towns. I'm looking forward to getting to know them."

The 25th District lost Jefferson and Rockaway Township to the 26th District. In addition to Washington Township, it picked up several communities—Bernardsville, the Chesters, Mendham Borough and Netcong.  Bernardsville, in Somerset County, is its only non-Morris community.

"I enjoyed very much representing Jefferson and Rockaway Township," Assemblyman Bucco said. "I think again, they also have great Republican representation. I've been there and worked with them and have friendships. Unfortunately, this wasn't my choosing. We have to live with the map."

Impact on Morris County

Morris County Democratic Committee Executive Director Chip Robinson said he was excited by one change to the local legislative map—the traditionally Democratic and Essex County-centric 27th district picked up several towns on his turf. It gets Harding, Chatham Township, East Hanover, Hanover and Madison (it also gets as Essex County's Millburn).

"I'm very, very happy," Robinson said. "For the first time I'm going to have some Democratic representation in my county."

The county last sent a Democrat to the state legislature in 1993, when Gordon MacInnes of Morris Township was the 25th District's senator. His single term ended in 1997.

"I think you're certainly going to see very competitive local races in the eastern part of the county," Robinson said, predicting a down-ticket impact.

But John Sette, chair of the Morris County Republican Committee, said Morris would remain "100 percent Republican for municipal and county."

"You can tell my friend at the Democratic Committee not to worry. They went from absolutely no shot to absolutely no shot," Sette said. "Every year, they tell us this is their year. I'll believe it when I see it."