Somers Point Appears Likely To Remain In District 2 For Next 10 Years

Every 10 years, Somers Point, New Jersey has to “sweat it out.”

Will they remain in New Jersey Legislative District 2, or, get bounced back to District 1?

There is an extraordinarily important process that takes place once per-decade.

Not many people know or care about it much. But, it is extremely important.

The composition of all 40 New Jersey legislative districts are redrawn, in coordination with the United States Census once of every 10 years.

At the United States Congressional level, the two major political parties are viciously battling this out right now to try and rig the game in their favor.

It’s called “Gerrymandering” and it refers to the blatant political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the expressed intent of creating an undue advantage for a particular political party.

Just in case you wondered, where did this word “Gerrymandering” come from:

The term gerrymandering is named after American
politician Elbridge Gerry, Vice President of the
United States at the time of his death, who, as
Governor of Massachusetts in 1812, signed a bill
that created a partisan district in the Boston area
that was compared to the shape of a mythological
salamander.

It’s a nasty process and the exact same thing is happening right now at the state level.

Hence, this year’s latest issue involving Somers Point.

Over the past 3 decades, Somers Point has been treated much like a ping pong ball, being struck by the paddle back-and-forth … as they have been shifted between New Jersey Districts 1 and 2.

With no disrespect whatsoever intended to Senator Michael Testa, R-1, Somers Point prefers to remain in District 2, currently headed by Senator Vince Polistina, R-2.

As of today, things are looking good for Somers Point. Both the Republican and Democrats each submit their “map” … their proposal of what the 40 districts should look like.

Both maps as of now reflect Somers Point remaining in District 2.

It is important to note that this is not nearly done deal, yet. Each political party will submit two more versions of their map, before the “tie breaker” will make the final decision and choose the winning map.

The process almost always ends in a tie, because each political party members vote for their map… Always leaving this in the hands of a “tiebreaker.”

The “tiebreaker” is usually a retired judge. This year, we already know that the “tiebreaker” is going to select the Democrat map, saying in advance that 10 years ago, the Republican map won out.

This decision affects the state for a full 10 years and the ultimate composition of these districts, determines who wins and who loses based upon the ultimate political makeup of each district.