Caputo's situation sets the stage for Belleville and Bloomfield to be jettisoned from 28th in redistricting

Regardless of the outcome of the game of political musical chairs in the 28th legislative district, where two incumbents and a former Assemblyman are posturing for two spots on the Democratic line, look for the mostly white, blue collar towns of Belleville and Bloomfield to be split away from Newark and Irvington when a new map is drawn after next year's census.

The 28th was supposed to be one of the voting rights districts that protected minority representation in the Legislature when it was drawn in 2001.  The incumbents at the time were three African Americans: State Sen. Ronald Rice (D-Newark) and Assemblymen Donald Tucker (D-Newark) and Craig Stanley (D-Irvington). 

Belleville, which was in the old 36th district, and Bloomfield, part of the old 34th district, were mostly represented by Republican legislators before the towns were moved in to the new 28th.  Rice beat GOP Assemblywoman Marion Crecco (R-Bloomfield) by a 69%-30% margin in 2001.

But Belleville and Bloomfield, which was estimated to have a combined population of 79,816 last year, have proven to be a greater force in Essex County politics than the redistricting commission imagined.  In 2007, Essex Democrats backed Ralph Caputo, a white Freeholder who served as a Republican Assemblyman from 1968 to 1972, to run for the Assembly.  Caputo and Cleopatra Tucker, whose late husband held the seat until his death in 2005, unseated two incumbents, Stanley and Oadline Truitt (D-Newark). 

In all, African American representation from Essex County in the New Jersey Legislature is down from the time the maps were drawn eight years ago.  Two years ago, Teresa Ruiz, a Latina, replaced Sharpe James in the State Senate and Caputo replaced Stanley.

The problem for 2011 mapmakers is that if they move Belleville or Bloomfield over to District 34, they could have a voting rights problem by endangering the re-election of State Sen. Nia Gill (D-Montclair) or Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange).  And if the towns are sent over to the 36th district to join Nutley, another blue collar town, the majority of the voters would then live in Essex County - something that Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge) but not like.  It would also endanger political future of Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic), a white legislator from a city where African Americans and Hispanics are the majority.

Based on the most recent population estimates, the ideal legislative district would have a population of 217,148.  That means each district will need to add about 7,000 people in 2011.

One possible home for Belleville and Bloomfield could be a new district that includes Nutley, Cedar Grove, and North Caldwell in Essex County, and Clifton and Little Falls in Passaic County.  Three legislators currently live in that possible new district, which would have an estimated population of 218,317: State Sen. Kevin O'Toole (R-Cedar Grove), who is heading the Senate Republican redistricting operation; Assemblyman Frederick Scalera (D-Nutley), and Caputo.

A new district (est. pop. 216,354) that would likely produce continued electoral success for Gill and Oliver would add Irvington, Orange, Essex Fells and Verona to the towns already there - Montclair, East Orange and Glen Ridge.  That map could endanger Assemblyman Thomas Giblin (D-Montclair), the only white legislator currently representing the 34th district.  So would sending Gill North into a district that links Montclair to Paterson; the current 35th district is represented in the Senate by a white Democrat, John Girgenti (D-Hawthorne), even though African Americans and Hispanics comprise a majority of the population.  The two 35th district Assembly seat are held by Nellie Pou (D-Paterson), a Latina, and Elease Evans (D-Paterson), an African American).