Sherrill supports redistricting plan to strengthen Democrats in NJ
✅ Gov. Mikie Sherrill says NJ may redraw congressional maps, reshaping House power.
✅ Republicans could lose one or two of New Jersey’s GOP-held congressional seats.
✅ Several states have already approved new district maps.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill approves of New Jersey entering the redistricting fray to make the state even bluer.
The governor, who just celebrated her first 100 days in office, announced her stance during a CNN interview with Kaitlin Collins on Thursday. Sherrill said that New Jersey would "stand up" to President Trump and counterbalance his attempts for Republicans to "unfairly" win U.S. House seats this November.
Gov. Sherrill on redistricting New Jersey
COLLINS: "Does that mean that you would be open to redistricting?"
SHERRILL: "We have some constitutional limitations on doing it immediately. We'd have to get some votes through, but I'd certainly be willing to work with the legislature to do that."
COLLINS: "Would you encourage them to do that?"
SHERRILL: "Depending on how these maps go, certainly."
New Jersey redistricting gains momentum
Sherrill isn't alone in her thoughts on redistricting New Jersey. The Garden State is one of several that could be redrawn for 2028, National Democratic Redistricting Committee President John Bisognano told Politico. State Democratic Party Chair LeRoy Jones said to Politico's Matt Friedman that it was a "wait-and-see kinda thing."
“It seems to be something that’s becoming a national strategy. At the appropriate time, we will determine whether or not it makes sense for New Jersey," Jones said.
New Jersey GOP Chairwoman Christine Hanlon said Sherrill's comments show that she is more worried about "national ambitions" than leading the state.
"It comes as no surprise the governor has expressed willingness to manipulate redistricting depending on 'how the maps go' because she has shown us repeatedly that her sights are fixed squarely on Washington rather than New Jersey," Hanlon said in a written statement on Friday.
"This is not leadership, it’s partisanship. New Jersey’s congressional maps shouldn’t be treated as political leverage to deliver seats for her party. Voters deserve fairness and transparency, not a wait-and-see approach based on political advantage."
How New Jersey congressional seats could change
According to state Division of Elections records, more than 3.9 million voters cast ballots for a candidate in the 2024 U.S. House races. Democratic candidates got 53% of the vote, while Republican candidates got 46%. But seats in the House aren't allocated proportionally to party vote; it's winner-takes-all. Of New Jersey's 12 seats, nine are held by Democrats, and three are held by Republicans — 75% to 25%.
Sherrill's vision of redistricting would likely result in Republicans losing one or two seats if districts, which are based on population, are redrawn so that the number of Democratic voters outweighs registered Republicans.
The Republicans representing New Jersey districts:
🔴 U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J. 2nd District
🔴 U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J. 4th District
🔴 U.S. Rep. Tom Kean, Jr., R-N.J. 7th District
Constitutional hurdles for mid-decade map redraw
New Jersey is entitled to 12 seats in the House of Representatives, out of 435 available seats. The number of these seats each state gets is based on its population in the latest census.
Maps are then drawn for each district. In New Jersey, these district maps are drawn by the Redistricting Commission, which has 13 members. There are six Democrats and six Republicans, plus an independent member. The latest map was approved for the 2022 elections and was set to expire in 2031.
During her CNN interview, Sherrill mentioned constitutional limits to redistricting. According to the state Constitution, the Redistricting Commission has the authority to draw new maps after each census. There is no provision for drawing new district lines without a census.
A constitutional amendment would be needed for mid-decade redistricting. And that's not a quick process. Both the state Senate and Assembly would have to pass the amendment with a two-thirds majority, and then the public would need to pass it in the next November election. Assuming state Democrats have the votes, New Jersey wouldn't have a new district map until 2028.
National battle for House control intensifies
A back-and-forth volley of congressional redistricting in states has changed the electoral battlefield ahead of the November midterm elections, as Republicans and Democrats each seek an edge in their push for control of the closely divided House.
Florida's Republican-led Legislature is the latest to act, approving new House districts that could help the GOP win several additional seats in this year's elections. That could offset Democratic gains in Virginia, where voters recently approved a new House map designed to flip several seats to Democrats.
Voting districts typically are redrawn once a decade after each census. But President Donald Trump last year urged Texas Republicans to redraw House districts to give the GOP an edge in the midterms. California Democrats reciprocated, and redistricting efforts soon cascaded across states.
Republicans believe they could win up to 13 additional seats from new congressional districts in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio and Florida. Democrats, meanwhile, think they could gain up to 10 seats from new districts in California, Utah and Virginia. But that presumes past voting patterns hold in November. And that’s uncertain, especially since the party in power typically loses seats in the midterms and Trump faces negative approval ratings in polls.
Democrats need to gain just a few seats in November to wrest control of the House from Republicans, potentially allowing them to obstruct Trump’s agenda.
(Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission)
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