State Sen. Oroho: I Liked 24th District the Way It Was

Legislative and party leaders throughout New Jersey are scrambling to make sense of a new political landscape. But in Hopatcong, the winds of change are blowing a little more softly.

Hopatcong remains firmly seated in the 24th Legislative District—a large territory that's gotten larger, now including more Warren County communities.

The changes come as political lines shift 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 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.

Republicans have criticized the decision, saying the map favors Democratic incumbents and gives uneven representation to the northern and southern halfs of New Jersey.

The largely Sussex and Warren County-based 24th District is left with one Morris County community, Mount Olive. The 24th District (currently served by state Sen. Steven V. Oroho, Assemblyman Gary R. Chiusano, and Assemblywoman Allison Littel McHose, all Republicans) lost Washington Township, Califon, the Chesters, Netcong and Tewksbury. It picked up Allamuchy, Belvidere, Blairstown, Frelinghuysen, Hardwick, Hope, Independence, Knowlton, Liberty, Oxford and White.

Oroho said he found the changes disappointing.

“We were very happy with the district we had,” he said. “We think the district was right where it should be. It’s disappointing to lose those towns. We established a lot of relationships and made a lot of friends in those towns.”

A resident of Sussex County, Oroho knows the challenge ahead of him now that the territory has become broader.

“I drove 65,000 miles last year because of the size of 24,” Oroho said. “So, what’s a few more miles?”

Oroho said he had expected the majority of redistricting changes to take place in the northeastern and southern parts of the state.

“I highly doubt there are any counties that should be divvied up into more than three districts,” he said.

But Oroho said he and his peers in the legislature would adjust.

“Maybe more than any other district in the state, based on the population numbers, the 24th could’ve been kept the same,” Oroho said. “But we’re going to play whatever role we can to help. We need to have the customer-service attitude; we’ll meet new people and establish new relationships. Hopefully this can help us to foster a bigger coalition of supporters.”