The House of Representatives was
originally designed to function as the branch of government that was closest to
the people and their needs. However, a question that is constantly asked by the
citizens of this nation is do the people elected to the House of
Representatives really relate to the constituents they represent
demographically. These elected officials are only serving in Washington on two
year terms allowing for the citizens of a district they represent to dispose of
them if they do not live up to the expectations they campaigned on, thus an
interesting question arises about how important is it for a candidate to be
demographically similar to their district, and if that will play an important
role in insuring their election.
With the New Jersey seventh
congressional district being the seventh wealthiest in the country and
Hunterdon County, New Jersey, which makes up a majority of the district, being
the fourth wealthiest county in the country[1],
a stereotypical representative for this district can already be formulated:
elderly, white, wealthy, professional degree, and business friendly. Rather unsurprisingly,
the representative from this district fits the stereotypical description
perfectly; Leonard Lance is a sixty-two year old, white Princeton Law School
graduate, whose businesses have made him a millionaire. Thus, keeping with the
many business owners and executives who live in his district he always votes
pro-business. Also, many people who live in Hunterdon County profit from the
massive pharmaceutical industry in New Jersey so it is probably no coincidence
that Lance is the vice chair of the House Subcommittee on Health, and
consistently votes in favor of and authors legislation and that would help pharmaceutical
companies create more profits. Lance has managed to sew himself in pretty tight
with his district, but there are some notable areas that differ from the idyllic
setting portrayed above, and they are wondering, do I matter?
Due to a restricting effort in 2010
however, the seventh district was redrawn in order to include Southern Warren County
along with the current district of Hunterdon, Morris, and Somerset counties.
However, Warren County is quite different economically than the rest of the
district, though it still has a majority white population, the median income is
half of what it is the rest of the seventh district. Also, along with having
lower income, the major school system in the region, Phillipsburg School
District, is an Abbott district, which is a New Jersey public school system
that's education standards are low enough that the government has to constantly
provide them with assistance, the only one in Lance’s congressional district. Honestly,
a multi-millionaire congressman seems very out of place in this area, and in
actuality that is true. Prior to the redistricting, this area was represented
by Rep. Scott Garrett of the New Jersey fifth, a man of strong conservative
values that resonated with the many rural New Jerseyans that populate the
county and on top of that he was not a millionaire, not even close, in fact according
to Open Secrets, his net worth is around a quarter of a million dollars, making
him one of the poorest members of Congress in the black (not in debt)[2].
This was a man who was a clear representation of Warren County, a farmer who
represents a majority of his constituents needs, including those of Southern
Warren County. However, does this redistricting matter to Lance’s chance of
reelection? No, not in the slightest. The people of Southern Warren County are
still very conservative and would not dream of voting Democrat, and even if they
were fed up with him, the power he has in the rest of the district will insure
his reelection without their votes.
The main point of the House of
Representatives is so a congressman can be closer to the people, and report
their interests back to Washington. For a majority of his district, Leonard
Lance is the man who fulfills that requirement, a business man representing a
very business-oriented district, but for those in the parts of Warren County
that Lance represents, they could care less about his votes to aid the pharmaceutical
companies and try to lower income taxes, they need help finding jobs and
keeping their family farms afloat. The people of Warren County have seen a ten
percent drop in income over the past few years, making the county even poorer
compared to its neighbor Hunterdon (which has only dropped one percent)[1]. Thus, the importance of demographically
representing the district is only important to an extent, because for every
resident of Warren County who complains their problems are not taken into
account, there are five from Hunterdon who will say they could not think of a
better representative for their needs than Leonard Lance. Thus, the people of
Warren County now located in the seventh district are in a place of isolation,
because the representative who they elected to Congress can be reelected
without them, and until he needs them to vote for him, or they are again
redistricted, their pleas for change on the federal level will fall on deaf
ears.
[1] Cortina,
Matthew. "N.J. Ranks Third in Median Household Income; Union County down
3.4%." Nj.com. September 24, 2012. Accessed September 25, 2014.
http://www.nj.com/independentpress/index.ssf/2012/09/median_household_income_drops.html.
[2] Open
Secrets. "Scott Garrett (R-NJ)." Open Secrets: Center for Responsive
Politics. January 1, 2014. Accessed September 25, 2014.
https://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/summary.php?year=2010&cid=N00000743.
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