BUTLER – Some of the speakers at Wednesday’s apportionment commission meeting had Morris County on their minds.

Specifically, they said they wanted LD-26, which also covers parts of Essex and Passaic counties, to become more competitive. Or in other words, less Republican. The GOP now has a registration lead in the district of about 12,000.

Whether that happens remains to be seen, but the political machinations would seem to be of paramount concern to Christian Barranco, an electrician by trade, now serving his first year as an Assemblyman. Maybe.

As elected officials are wont to do – even neophytes – Barranco said he wasn’t all that worried about his district changing.

“Whatever the district is, I’m going to run and do my best to represent the people,” he said Wednesday night during a fundraiser at High Point Brewery, an authentic-looking German beer garden nestled inside an old rubber factory.

Justin Musella, a Parsippany councilman, introduced Barranco as someone who will bring a “new perspective” to the Assembly. Barranco won his seat after defeating then-incumbent BettyLou DeCroce in last June’s primary. Prior to that, Barranco had won the endorsement of Morris Republicans.

The event attracted some high-powered Republicans, including the party’s Senate leader, Steve Oroho, and his Assembly counterpart, John DiMaio. Also on hand were Republican congressional hopefuls Larry Casha and Tayfun Selen (both CD-11) and Phil Rizzo (CD-7).

Barranco said he thinks New Jersey is emerging from the pandemic and more specifically, the Omicron variant.

Republicans as a group have been critical of the administration’s COVID policies, specifically the shut down early in the pandemic and the continuing masking of school children.

Barranco told about 50 or so supporters that he sees Gov. Phil Murphy getting backlash about some of his pandemic policies from his own party. That remains to be seen.

As does the new makeup of LD-26.