Update: December 17, 6:50 a.m.
Lawmakers in New Jersey won't be voting on a controversial redistricting plan after all.
A vote was scheduled on a constitutional amendment for Monday in the state senate and assembly. But Democratic State Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin canceled the vote on Saturday after significant backlash that accused the Democrat-led legislature of partisan gerrymandering.
On WNYC's This Week in Politics Saturday morning, State Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg suggested the plan wasn't ready for a vote and appeared to forecast the bill's demise.
Speaking with David Furst she said: "There's something in this bill to affront almost everybody. That's not always easy to do. But, apparently, that's what we managed to do."
Sweeney said in a statement that Democrats will review input they received from the public and other lawmakers.
Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy praised the decision to cancel the vote. And Senate Republican Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. called the move "a big win for the people of New Jersey."
Grassroots progressive activists who protested the plan also cheered the decision, saying more competitive districts empower people over the party officials and bosses who tried to ram this through.
"[We've] taken notice that the Democratic party leaders in our state have too much power," said Dena Mottola Jaborska, associate director of New Jersey Citizen Action. "And that far too much happens in Trenton -- policymaking happens -- without public input."
Mottola Jaborska said liberal activists capitalized on their success pushing out four Republican New Jersey congressmen this year by turning their attention to state Democrats.
"Something has shifted with the emergence of so many grassroots and leaders," she said. "And it's not going to be okay to just elect Democrats that sometimes support Democratic values, and sometimes don't."
WNYC's New Jersey editor, Nancy Solomon, spoke with Morning Edition host Richard Hake about where the redistricting effort goes from here.