LAWRENCE: Turner’s district now more competitive

Senator aims to make friends in the added municipalities

By Lea Kahn
   Now that the redistricting dust has settled, New Jersey’s 15th Legislative District has lost two of its most solidly Democratic municipalities and picked up four new municipalities — two of which tend to lean Republican.
   Princeton Borough and Princeton Township have been moved into the 16th Legislative District, and East Amwell, West Amwell and West Windsor townships and the City of Lambertville have taken the Princetons’ place in the 15th District.
   But state Sen. Shirley K. Turner is not concerned. The Democratic state senator, who has represented the 15th District in the state Senate since 1997, said she is looking forward to meeting her new constituents and to making new friends when the new district lines take effect in January.
   The new district will certainly be more competitive, given that East Amwell and West Amwell townships are more Republican-oriented, said Sen. Turner, who lives in Lawrence. But Lambertville has a Democratic mayor, and West Windsor also leans toward the Democrats, she said.
   Whenever redistricting occurs — which it does, after every 10-year federal census — some towns are eliminated and some towns are added in a legislative district, Sen. Turner said. She said she was “sad” that the Princetons were eliminated, because the voters were reliably Democratic.
   ”Princeton is a microcosm,” she said. “It is diverse. There are wealthy and poor, educated and not well educated. Princeton University is there. It added another dimension. But I am looking forward to making new friends and representing new constituents.”
   The change in the makeup of the 15th District also has affected the state Assembly representatives.
   Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman’s seat is safe, because she lives in Ewing Township. But Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, who lives in Princeton Township, faces the prospect of being bounced out of his seat because the Princetons were shifted into the Republican-leaning 16th District.
   Mr. Gusciora, who also serves as the municipal prosecutor for the Lawrence Township Municipal Court, is making plans to move to Trenton so he can continue to serve in the 15th District. He said he has represented the 15th District for 16 years and it would be difficult to start all over in a new district that includes only one of the towns that he represented.