REPORT: Conflicts of interest behind N.J. congressional redistricting map are piling up

Nassau Hall at Princeton University
Nassau Hall at Princeton University

David Wildstein has done yeoman’s work uncovering the web of conflicts behind the scenes of New Jersey’s congressional redistricting map, Save Jerseyans.

The latest: on Saturday, Wildstein reported over at his New Jersey Globe that (and I’m just going to quote his first paragraph here because it says it all): “Princeton University employees have contributed $654,627 to Democratic incumbents in four competitive New Jersey House districts, but that didn’t stop the independent tiebreaker for the Congressional Redistricting Commission from bringing in the Princeton Gerrymandering Project as his staff.”

That’s right… the university that helped decide the fate of New Jersey’s federal representation – and possibly control of Congress – for the next decade (!) is completely compromised.

“Sooner or later, somebody will need to to explain how Sam Wang & the Princeton Gerrymandering Project found their way onto the staffs of the independent congressional and legislative redistricting tiebreakers picked by the NJ Supreme Court,” Wildstein tweeted on Sunday.

Click here to read the full story.

As Save Jersey previously reported, Wang (who is also slated to play a role in the as-of-yet completed legislative redistricting process) is an Obama/Warren donor with a long history of anti-Trump commentary on social media.

Meanwhile, Garden State Republicans continue to press a legal challenge to the map before the state Supreme Court. It’s unclear what if any impact Wildstein’s reporting will have on the state case or whether a hypothetical federal case could arise out of the GOP’s challenge if they’re unsuccessful at the state level.

Matt Rooney
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MATT ROONEY is SaveJersey.com's founder and editor-in-chief, a practicing New Jersey attorney, and the host of 'The Matt Rooney Show' on 1210 WPHT every Sunday evening from 7-10PM EST.