Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) said she did not think her administration would push a redistricting effort in New Jersey after Democrats came up big in the state’s 2026 House races.
Democrats expanded their hold on the Garden State’s congressional delegation on Election Day, with the ratio shifting from a 9-3 to an 11-1 advantage for Democrats in the state. Incumbent Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) and Tom Kean, Jr. (R-NJ) lost their seats in the state’s 2nd and 7th congressional districts to Democrats Zack Mullock and Rebecca Bennett, respectively.
Sherrill had floated the idea of redistricting the state in 2028 amid the national redistricting back-and-forth between Democrats and Republicans. She told the New Jersey Globe on Wednesday that she does not “see a path forward for redistricting right now.”
“I think it was only on the table in the event Trump really continued to try to undermine the election system,” Sherrill told the outlet.
“Especially with picking up those two seats, I just don’t think that’s the path forward here,” Sherrill said.
Sherrill also questioned whether the redistricting wave even worked for states that decided to jump on the wagon. Despite Republican redistricting in states such as Florida, Alabama, and Texas, many Democrats won districts expected to swing for Republicans under the new boundaries.
“Even in the areas where Trump gerrymandered, I’m not sure they won any of those seats – very few, if any,” Sherrill said. “And so it didn’t really work.”
New Jersey’s 2nd District, which covers the southernmost part of the state, has been in Republican control since 1994, except in 2018, when Van Drew was elected as a Democrat before switching parties and becoming an ally of President Donald Trump.
JEFF VAN DREW CONCEDES TO DEMOCRAT IN NEW JERSEY HOUSE SEAT
New Jersey’s 7th District had been held by Kean for just two terms after he defeated Democratic former Rep. Tom Malinowski in 2022.
Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) remains the state’s only Republican congressman, representing the northern part of the Jersey Shore in the state’s 4th District. He defeated Democrat Rachel Peace by more than 18 percentage points.