New NY congressional districts would give Dems a boost, but GOP feared worse

A new congressional map drawn by New York Democrats would make key changes on Long Island and in central New York that could help the party in its efforts to win control of the U.S. House of Representatives later this year — but some key Republicans said they were bracing for worse.

The state Legislature’s Democratic majorities introduced a bill late Monday that lays out proposed boundaries for New York’s 26 congressional districts, a day after it rejected a bipartisan commission's compromise proposal.

The Democrats’ proposal, introduced just before midnight, would make few tweaks to New York City’s congressional districts. Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ seat in Staten Island and Brooklyn, which Democrats have long targeted, would be left alone.

But Democratic Rep.-elect Tom Suozzi’s Queens and Nassau County district would extend eastward, dipping into Suffolk County to pick up Democratic turf while ceding some redder areas of Nassau to Republican Rep. Andrew Garbarino’s district.

Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) said the lawmakers' map was based on keeping "communities of interest" intact within districts — not to benefit a candidate or party.

"We are not allowed to draw lines with political considerations in mind," Heastie told reporters Tuesday.

Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, were bracing for significant changes to the map after Democrats led a successful court battle last year to force new districts, and the party had been threatening an anti-gerrymandering lawsuit for months. But on Tuesday, state Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay, a Republican, said the state's GOP congressional delegation "are not upset with the maps."

Rep. Mike Lawler, a Hudson Valley Republican facing a challenge from former Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones, echoed the sentiment.

"I think it is unfortunate that it came to this and it was unnecessary, as I think the current map is fair and provides voters with competitive districts," Lawler told Gothamist. "Ultimately, I think Speaker Heastie and [Senate Majority Leader Andrea] Stewart-Cousins used their better judgment and negotiated a competitive map."

The Democrat-dominated Legislature is expected to approve the new districts on Thursday — or earlier, if Gov. Kathy Hochul decides to waive the otherwise mandatory three-day aging period for new legislation. It would then be up to Hochul to sign or veto the measure.

Speaking to reporters in Schenectady on Tuesday, Hochul declined to say whether she would would issue a message of necessity to allow the Legislature to vote immediately.

"There are options available to me as governor," she said. "I'm having conversations with the Legislature on what that looks like."

Republicans, meanwhile, have threatened to sue. They argued that Democrats are violating an anti-gerrymandering provision in the state constitution, which prohibits political maps from being drawn to benefit a particular party or candidate.

"This is a predictable result of a Legislature drunk with power that ignores the will of the people," state Republican Chair Ed Cox said in a statement Monday after Democrats voted to reject a compromise map drawn by a bipartisan state commission.

The Democrats’ new proposal is laid out in the dense pages of a bill listing the census tracts and block numbers included in each district.

The bill wouldn’t make major changes to the competitive balance — at least between Democrats and Republicans — in almost all of New York City’s existing congressional districts, which Democrats successfully sued to replace last year on procedural grounds.

But it would make a shift in the Bronx that could affect the ongoing Democratic primary in New York’s 16th District between Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Westchester County Executive George Latimer.

The proposal would move Co-op City — the densely populated development in the northeast Bronx — into the district, a move Bowman’s allies had been pushing for in Albany. But it would also remove part of the Wakefield section of the Bronx and keep the district mostly based in Westchester County — something Latimer's allies had been pushing for.

Further north, one of the map's biggest changes comes in the Syracuse area, where freshman Republican Rep. Brandon Williams' district will pick up the Democrat-leaning cities of Auburn and Cortland.

Barclay said the Democrats' proposed map undeniably benefits the Democratic Party.

"But we are in a blue state and, you know, I think things could actually be worse," he said.

This story has been updated with new information.