It's almost tradition in the Garden State for the court-appointed independent tie-breaker on the state's bipartisan redistricting commission to pick the GOP-drawn Republican map. This time, Republicans were especially clever in putting the hometown of Democratic Rep. Steve Rothman in GOP Rep. Scott Garrett's 5th CD, knowing that Rothman was likely to opt for a Democratic primary against fellow Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell. Despite that titanic June 5 clash, Democrats do have one pickup opportunity, against freshman GOP Rep. Jon Runyan in November. On the Republican side, moderate Rep. Leonard Lance is a favorite to beat back a primary rematch.
The new map can be found here.
New District Baselines
NJ-01: Rob Andrews (D) – Southwest: Camden, Cherry Hill
Solid Democratic. This Camden County based district was the site of some drama in 2008, when Andrews primaried state Sen. Frank Lautenberg. Andrews' wife, law professor Camille Andrews, stood in for her husband on the House ballot, only to relinquish the nomination to Andrews after he lost, in true Camden Democratic machine style. The 1st CD picked up Cherry Hill in
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