Politics & Government

Morristown GOP Leader: 'We're Pretty Happy' to Still Be In 25th District

County's seat remains firmly planted on Republican legislative turf.

The more things change, the more things stay the same.

While legislative district boundaries shifted across the state this weekend, Morristown remains in the 25th District—a legislative grouping consisting almost entirely of Morris County communities. It continues to be represented by state Sen. Anthony R. Bucco, Assemblyman Anthony M. Bucco and Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, also Republicans.

And though the makeup of both districts has changed—scroll down to the bottom of this article to see a full breakdown of the new 25th District—it's still clearly Republican turf.

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“It doesn't really affect Morristown at this time,” said Mary Dougherty, the municipal chair for Morristown on the Morris County Democratic Committee, and wife of Morristown mayor Timothy Dougherty. “We'll be keeping an eye out to the future, what our needs are and see how that works as far as the redistricting. For today, it doesn't do much to change our role at this point.”

And her Republican counterpart, Frank J. Vitolo, said he's relieved to still be in the district Morristown's called home.

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“There was some talk early on about Morristown moving out of the 25th," he said. "We're pretty happy that didn't happen, where we have Reps. [Michael] Patrick [Carrol] and [Anthony] Bucco, whom I like a lot."

The 25th District lost Jefferson and Rockaway Township to the 26th District. It picked up Washington Township, Bernardsville, the Chesters, Mendham Borough and Netcong. 

The changes come as political lines move 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 Gov. Chris 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.

Assemblyman Bucco, son of the senator, said he's glad that "the towns that we picked up [in the 25th District] are good, solid Republican towns. They've got great Republican leadership in those towns. I'm looking forward to getting to know them."

Republicans statewide have criticized the new map, saying it protects incumbent Democrats and unevenly represents populations in the northern and southern halves of the state.

“Overall it is what it is," Vitolo said. "We probably could have done a little better, but nothing we could do about it.”

Key Changes in Eastern 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. The changes do, however, mean the Democratic committee will need to scramble to place candidates in legislative races, as several of those on its expected slate live in towns that have changed districts.

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."

New 25th District Municipality Population White Only Black Only Asian Only Hispanic Only Already Part of District? Bernardsville Boro 7707 7043 68 252 903 No Boonton Twn 8347 6578 402 839 920 Yes Boonton Twp 4263 3937 66 170 178 Yes Chester Boro 1649 1497 17 38 222 No Chester Twp 7838 7314 82 274 341 No Denville Twp 16635 14887 236 1084 883 Yes Dover Twn 18157 12083 1108 461 12598 Yes Mendham Boro 4981 4767 51 102 135 No Mendham Twp 5869 5477 76 200 211 Yes Mine Hill Twp 3651 2946 168 181 840 Yes Morris Twp 22306 19022 1261 1141 1683 Yes Morristown Twn 18411 11507 2572 799 6277 Yes Mount Arlington Boro 5050 4567 117 181 415 Yes Mountain Lakes Boro 4160 3726 15 318 106 Yes Netcong Boro 3232 2722 126 90 572 No Randolph Twp 25734 21215 690 2691 2616 Yes Rockaway Boro 6438 5330 207 493 970 Yes Roxbury Twp 23324 20573 546 1346 2083 Yes Victory Gardens Boro 1520 889 247 37 957 Yes Washington Twp 18533 17247 257 612 847 No Wharton Boro 6522 4947 298 370 2630 Yes


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