This had the effect of giving more Republican leaning areas in Hunterdon and Somerset to Frelinghuysen, as well as the swing areas in southeast Mercer to Chris Smith. Holt's current district essentially has its population center in Trenton/Lawrenceville/Princeton, with a few small towns along the river in SW Hunterdon which are of little consequence. The only towns in the district that occassionally swing to the GOP are Hopewell and Pennington.
In short, the 12th district would have remained a possible GOP pickup had the nonpartisan committee not shifted nearly all of Trenton to Holts district, while subtracting most of Hunterdon. Then again, it did make Smith's seat more GOP leaning (Frelinghuysen's district is fairly safe for the NE), which is important once Chris finally retires.
I have to wonder just how “nonpartisan” those “committees” truly are. You have my sympathies on having Rush Dolt, Jr. as your Rep. Although his predecessor, Dick Zimmer, was no prize, Rush makes him look like Bob Dornan.