• NY Redistricting: New York's Democratic-run state legislature rejected a new congressional map proposed by the state's bipartisan redistricting commission on Monday, giving lawmakers the opportunity to move forward with their own plan instead. What that plan might look like has yet to be determined, though Democratic leaders promised a vote this week.
The commission's map, which was adopted on a 9-1 vote, was greeted with skepticism and even outright hostility by Democrats after its release earlier this month. While it did not make extensive alterations to the court-drawn districts it was designed to replace, the key changes it did make all seemed designed to make life easier for incumbents.
Earning the most negative attention were adjustments proposed for two districts held by vulnerable first-term incumbents in the Hudson Valley that would have made both seats less competitive—one for each party. The 18th District, represented by Democrat Pat Ryan, would have gotten a few points bluer, while the 19th, represented by Republican Marc Molinaro, would have gotten a few points redder.
One Republican incumbent in the Syracuse area, Rep. Brandon Williams, wouldn't have been so lucky, since his 22nd District would have been made slightly more Democratic. But he would still have benefited in another way, because the commission's lines placed his home inside of his district—something the map did for three other incumbents as well, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Jeffries, though, was among those Democrats critical of the map, charging that commissioners had failed "to address many of the flaws in the current map drawn by an unelected, out-of-town special master in 2022." He also noted that the proposal split apart six more counties than the prior map did and argued that one such split "appears gratuitously designed to impermissibly benefit an incumbent in the 19th Congressional District."
Such a move, Jeffries warned, could violate the state constitution, which states that district boundaries "shall not be drawn to discourage competition or for the purpose of favoring or disfavoring incumbents or other particular candidates or political parties."
Democrats, however, will almost certainly see any districts they produce challenged in court by Republicans, who are likely to assert that they constitute an unlawful partisan gerrymander. New York's highest court has previously entertained such claims, though given recent turnover on the court, it's not clear how strict a standard it might apply in the future.
