When you look at the configuration of New Jersey Congressional and Legislative districts the most apparent characteristic is fairly straightforward: the district either heavily favors a Democrat or Republican, and the latter usually has little chance of winning. Most elections are uneventful, unwinnable, and inherently bad for a representative democracy.
As a Democrat I look at the legislative map and think, this is great, there is probably not one feasible electoral scenario that will give Assembly Republicans the opportunity to control a majority. They have to run the electoral board, holding every potentially vulnerable seat and performing well in LD1, LD14, LD36, and one of LD4 & LD38 in order to take back a majority. All on limited resources with a broken party infrastructure.
Out of 40 Legislative Districts in New Jersey any politically savvy person will tell you that there is probably only 2 battleground elections. In LD1 Assemblymen Nelson Albano and Matthew Milam will fight to be reelected with Senator Jeff Van Drew not at the top of the ticket. In LD36 Gary Schaer and Frederick Scalera are facing 2 candidates who came very close to unseating them in 2007 due to a series of local issues, mainly the Encap fiasco. I would put Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo higher on the list of potentially vulnerable Democrats, but the Republican recruiting effort there was just embarrassing, especially in what could be a very competitive. election in LD14 where alienated State workers are a large portion of the electorate.
The biggest problem in 'uncompetitive' districts is simple: it is nearly impossible for a Democratic or Republican challenger to raise a credible amount of money to mount a serious campaign. Campaigns are expensive, and if a candidate is not independently wealthy or has a network of wealthy friends, it is impossible for any candidates to raise the money for people to take you seriously.
If New Jersey expanded its clean elections program to all 40 Districts, our democracy would become healthier, our elected officials would become more responsive, and interest groups & lobbyists would not be the only constituency our Senators and Assembly Members were trying to keep happy. Legislators would be freed from the grip of special interest money and truly be able to legislate in the best interest of their constituents interest.
Elected officials in New Jersey are often too entrenched for their own good.There is no accountability because the process is essentially controlled by a small group of politically connected people that creates and promotes all of the symptoms for an ineffective and potentially corrupt State government. The elections are a rubber stamp on what a small group of people decide in a backroom.
We need to expand our clean elections program and force our legislators to collect small dollar donations from their constituents. Challengers need to have the access to the resources necessary to run a credible campaign without having a small fortune to their names. This will attract more qualified candidates, more diverse candidates, and in the long run, a more wellrounded group of legislators in Trenton.
