New Jersey employs a bipartisan commission to create their districts made up of a board of 6 Democratic members, 6 Republican members, and one independent member. This past year, Democrats got their state legislative maps approved my winning over the independent member of the board.
My proposal is a 8-3-LoBiondo map. In my map, I barely split any city OR township, with the except of about five or six. I have one black-VAP-majority seat based in Newark and Jersey City and one Hispanic-majority and Hispanic-VAP-minority seat based in the same area. I think this map could be passed, as it respects a lot of communities of interest and gets rid of those ugly snake districts. The map shores up Holt and gets rid of Lance (or Frelinghuysen) and Runyan (for sure) and likely gets rid of LoBiondo.
Let me know what you think!
CD 1 Rob Andrews (D-Haddon Heights)
Obama 61.5
Democrats 59.6
Becomes a bit less Democratic to make LoBiondo's district a tad bluer. Still Safe D.
CD 2 Frank LoBiondo (R-Ventnor)
Obama 58.3
Democrats 56.1
I don't know if LoBiondo could hold this district. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe only Bob Dold! holds a more Democratic district than this one (maybe Barletta or Gerlach?). I think LoBiondo could survive a few years, but it's gone when a 2006 or a 2008 comes around. Even in a neutral year, Frank might be toast.
CD 3 Empty [Chris Smith (R-Hamilton) or Jon Runyan (R-Mount Laurel Township)
Obama 42.1
Democrats 41.9
A Republican Ocean County-based vote sink. Neither lives here, but Smith and Runyan represent most of this territory.
CD 4 Rush Holt (D-Hopewell Township)
Obama 63.3
Democrats 58.1
It doesn't take a rocket scientist (or a master physicist) to shore up Holt. Seat becomes the third most Democratic district in New Jersey. All of Trenton and only two counties now.
CD 5 Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-Morristown) and Leonard Lance (R-Clinton Township)
Obama 47.1
Democrats 43.3
This district is quite ugly and the most concern for Democrats. It makes up five counties, which is not ideal, but then again Frelinghuysen's current district does too, so maybe it's justifiable. A Republican vote sink, it's highly unlikely a Democrat could win here.
CD 6 Frank Pallone (D-Long Branch)
Obama 57.5
Democrats 55.7
Pallone had a hard time in 2010, and might have lost this district last year. Still, I can't imagine this district flipping in any year besides 2010. It's really hard to make this more Democratic without risking CD 7. I guarantee you that both CD 6 and CD 7 will be Democratic most years and at least one will be all the time. Therefore, not a dummymander.
CD 7 Empty
Obama 57.7
Democrats 54.7
A new seat based in New York suburbs, a Democrat should be strongly favored, as it's around D+5. It's a little swingy, but I'm sure an Edison-based Dem will win.
CD 8 Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson)
Obama 57.3
Democrats 57.4
Far less Democratic than its predecessor, the population numbers forces an expansion into more Republican territory. Should be Safe D.
CD 9 Albio Sires (D-West New York)
Obama 71.8
Democrats 72.1
It's Hispanic majority at 50.6% and VAP plurality at 48%. It's not currently a VRA district, so I didn't weaken it, and in fact it's more Hispanic. It can be made more Hispanic, but then it's less compact.
CD 10 Donald Payne (D-Newark)
Obama 83.5
Democrats 80.1
50.1% black VAP, mostly Newark and Jersey City.
CD 11 Steve Rothman (D-Fair Lawn)
Obama 58.5
Democrats 58.7
Less Democratic, yet safe D.
CD 12 Scott Garrett (R-Wantage)
Obama 42.7
Democrats 39.8
Republican vote sink.
Townships: