A midlevel New York court sided with Democrats in their crusade to allow themselves to redraw the state’s 26 congressional districts. Though Republicans are expected to appeal, this is already a consequential decision.
The Appellate Division’s Third Department issued a 3-2 decision on Thursday ordering the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission to come up with a new congressional map. If this is affirmed by the Court of Appeals, the state’s top court, such a ruling could give Democratic lawmakers in Albany what they have wanted: the final say. That would be because if the commission can’t decide, the legislature gets to.
The case, spurred by a lawsuit backed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or DCCC, could affect which party controls the House of Representatives. GOP wins in toss-up districts on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley last year proved vital. Those wins came on the back of a map that was only put in place after Republicans sued Democrats for an unfair map.
A 10-member commission usually draws the maps, but this process imploded in 2022 after the Democrat-led Legislature voted down the commission’s first set. The panel couldn’t reach a consensus on a second proposal, so Democratic lawmakers stepped in and drew the lines themselves. That’s when the GOP called foul and got them thrown out, with independent expert Jonathan Cervas of Carnegie Mellon University coming in and drawing competitive maps for the midterms.
After Thursday’s decision, it will be up to the Court of Appeals to decide the congressional districts’ ultimate fate. That same court, filled with Hochul and Cuomo appointees, ruled in favor of Republicans in their redistricting lawsuit last year. But the court has a different makeup now, most notably with a new chief judge in Rowan Wilson, who sided with the Democrats’ redistricting arguments as an associate last year.
