New York’s highest court handed national Democrats a big victory on Tuesday by invalidating the current 26 congressional districts by a vote of 4–3 ahead of the 2024 elections.
The much expected ruling paves the door for the state’s nonpartisan Independent Redistricting Commission to start creating new borders following a deadlock in 2022. It overturns the court-drawn map from last year, which helped New York’s GOP capture a majority in the House in 2022 by flipping four seats.
This may aid Democrats in their efforts to flip a significant number of districts controlled by Republicans in the upcoming election (Republican George Santos of New York was recently expelled, leaving the GOP with a very slim majority in the chamber).
Republicans in New York, who disapproved of the decision right away, will probably contest any new map they believe to be gerrymandered by state Democrats. “The decision today opens the door for Democrats to rig our Congressional district lines so that elections are decided not by the voters, but by politicians in a back room,” New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, chair of the House GOP Conference, and Ed Cox, chairman of the New York GOP, said in a joint statement.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia James welcomed the court’s ruling. “Today’s redistricting decision will ensure all New Yorkers are fairly and equitably represented by elected officials,” they said in a joint statement.
The conflict over New York’s congressional design dates back to a constitutional amendment ratified by voters that created the Independent Redistricting Commission to combat political gerrymandering.
However, the bipartisan group was unable to agree upon a map that would be used in the 2022 election after the 2020 census. The state legislature thus took action and created a new map that strongly benefited Democrats, a move thart was eventually overturned by the Court of Appeals. The map used in the 2022 election was then created by a special master designated by the court.
The panel was now mandated by the court to produce a map by February 28. The legislature is able to comment on the commission’s map in accordance with state legislation.
