Think of NJ like a snowman (or woman). CD5 is shaped like a cap with earmuffs that rests atop the face and body of NJ. On the western edge the earmuffs reach deep down through Sussex and Warren's rural, mountainous areas to CD 7. It's cap top includes Sussex, two Passaic towns and Bergen. Its smaller less deep eastern earmuff is also Bergen. The face under the cap and earmuffs includes districts 7,9 and 11. To drive through the CD5 you could start at Washington Borough in the south/western section, drive north to Montague (53 miles), then east to Alpine (76 miles) and south to Teaneck (12 miles) - a very long 141 mile trip which would be multiple miles longer if you crisscrossed the area to encompass more or all of the towns in the district. The roads in Sussex and Warren are country roads, and in fact the quickest way to travel the first two legs is using out-of-state nearby highways (in PA and NY respectively).
Not a geographically friendly area for a congressperson, but such probably has not bothered Rep. Garrett as he spends little time doing retail politics. Following redistricting, however, he now has about 161,000 new constituents from Bergen County, including from Hackensack, Fair Lawn, Lodi, River Edge, Maywood, Bogota, and part of Teaneck. Now pesky Bergen County provides 72% of his constituents, and most of its towns are an hour or more drive from his home in Wantage. He will by force have to spend time particularly in the southern area of Bergen with new voters who are unhappy Democrats and with Republicans who don't know him and may not like what they see.
Assemblywoman and Deputy Speaker Connie Wagner from Paramus, should she decide to run in the 5th, is conveniently located near the center of Bergen County where 72% of the CD5 voters live. She already represents 82,935 CD5 residents in Paramus, Lodi, and Fair Lawn. She has served on the Bergen County Board of Freeholders and the Paramus Council. She will have to spend some time in the more distant conservative Sussex and Warren counties making the point that she can better represent their interests, and she will have to reach out to the more Republican towns in Bergen CD5. (See my recent diary detailing Garrett's extreme positions and why a more moderate approach can gain traction in CD5.) She will need to amass over $1million in campaign donations as Garrett, according to the Federal Election Commission, as of 9/30/11 reported he held $1,564,354 in cash.
For further information on Assw. Wagner and two other potential candidates, Duffy and Carson, see below the fold.
