New York Democrats reject bipartisan congressional map and draw their own lines

CNN
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Democrats who control the New York State Assembly on Monday rejected a congressional map drawn by a bipartisan commission that gave the party only a small electoral advantage and no chance to chart its own path going forward. It will be given to you.

The decision could determine which party controls the U.S. House of Representatives next year. New York state is expected to be at the center of this fall’s House of Representatives battle, where Republicans will take a slim majority. Republicans flipped four of the state’s House seats in the 2022 midterm elections, helping the party gain control of the chamber.

Several New York Democrats had expressed displeasure with the map, which was approved 9-1 by the state’s independent redistricting commission earlier this month. The map leaves the suburban New York City House district, seen as a potential battleground in November, largely intact. That includes Long Island’s 3rd Congressional District, which Democrats flipped earlier this month in a special election to replace disgraced former Rep. George Santos.

The committee’s map would jeopardize Republican freshman Brandon Williams’ central New York seat by adding more areas that favor Democrats. But under the committee’s compromise plan, two Hudson Valley seats held by Republican Mark Molinaro and Democrat Pat Ryan each appeared safe for the incumbents.

On the Senate floor Monday afternoon, House Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, a Democrat, said the commission’s maps cut out counties in some cases and changed district lines to protect incumbents. criticized for maintaining it.

“Maps should not be drawn specifically to protect incumbents,” he said.

Democratic state Sen. James Skoufis cited a similar argument when explaining his opposition to the commission’s map before the vote.

“I know this is said to be bipartisan, but my characterization is that this is mutually partisan,” he told CNN.

Republicans, meanwhile, accused Democrats of going against the will of New Yorkers who supported the 2014 constitutional amendment that helped create the redistricting commission.

In rejecting the commission’s map, Democratic lawmakers “‘We don’t trust the people of New York,'” said state Sen. George Borrello.

Ed Cox, chairman of the New York Republican Party, called Monday’s vote “a predictable result of a power-drunk Congress ignoring the will of the people.”

Under state law, the Legislature has the authority to intervene in the commission’s plans. He needs a two-thirds majority vote in each chamber to approve or reject the map.

The defeat of the commission’s work would allow the Democratic-led Legislature to chart a new course that could tilt in favor of Democrats in up to six districts, a move that would change the state constitution. It will likely trigger new lawsuits over accusations of aggressive partisan gerrymandering that were violated.

State Democrats worked into the early hours of Tuesday morning to submit a proposal for new districts by Gianaris and U.S. Rep. Ken Zebrowski. Two lawmakers familiar with the process told CNN they plan to release the map later Tuesday.

The timing of the bill’s introduction would give lawmakers the opportunity to vote on a new congressional map as early as Thursday. Banknotes must be aged for at least three days after introduction. Lawmakers could vote even sooner if Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul sends out a so-called “message of necessity,” a procedural move that would waive the three-day statute of limitations.

On Tuesday, Hochul indicated he was ready to act quickly. “I want to close this chapter as soon as possible,” she told reporters. “I think Congress wants to get this over with in the next day or so.”

Monday’s action is the latest chapter in a tumultuous battle over New York’s zoning lines, and one of several zoning skirmishes whose implications for national politics are being watched closely.

A state court judge oversaw the process of drawing congressional maps to be used in the 2022 election. This comes after the Independent Redistricting Commission was unable to agree on new boundaries after the 2020 Census, and the map drawn by the Democratic-controlled Legislature was rejected by the Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court. It was after receiving it.

The Democratic Party went back to court to ask the redistricting commission to reconsider the case, arguing that the court-drawn map should not be used for multiple elections. The Court of Appeals, now under more liberal control, agreed late last year and ordered the commission to draw new maps.

House candidates are scheduled to begin gathering signatures on petitions Tuesday to run for office, but they may choose to change the petition process if the state Legislature doesn’t reach an agreement soon.

Meanwhile, shortly after the Senate voted to reject the commission’s map, state senators will require legal challenges to new boundaries to be filed only in four jurisdictions: Albany, Westchester, Erie, and Manhattan. approved the bill.

The bill, sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Zellner Miley of Brooklyn, is said to be an effort to limit so-called forum shopping, which Republicans filed a lawsuit in 2022 and Democrats drew. Democrats say it’s a practice Republicans have adopted when successfully challenging maps. Steuben County – A crimson dot in an overwhelmingly blue state. Republican state lawmakers warned that the new measure would likely violate the Constitution.

This article and heading have not been updated due to additional developments.