NY Democrats set to redraw congressional map themselves

Democratic lawmakers in Albany will step in to redraw New York’s congressional map themselves, potentially setting up yet another court battle with Republicans that could help determine which party wins control of the U.S. House of Representatives in this year’s elections.

The Democratic-dominated state Legislature on Monday voted down a proposed map crafted earlier this month by the Independent Redistricting Commission, a bipartisan panel made up of lawmakers’ appointees.

“It seems the will of the conference is to reject those lines and get to work with our Assembly colleagues on some new proposals,” Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) told reporters after Senate Democrats wrapped up a three-hour, closed-door meeting.

The vote clears the way for the Legislature's Democratic majorities to make changes to New York's 26 congressional districts before putting it to another vote later this week. Republicans have vowed to sue if the resulting map tilts more toward Democrats, arguing it would violate the state constitution's ban on political gerrymandering.

The stakes are significant: Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the House, and even a minor shift in the New York lines could imperil their grip on power.

The commission’s proposal — approved by a 9-1 vote — would have made only modest changes to the state’s current congressional districts, which were drawn by a court-appointed expert after Republicans successfully sued to overturn a previous, Democrat-drawn map in 2022.

Under the commission's map, Democrats would have only slightly benefited in their bid to retake control of the House of Representatives, with most swing districts seeing only minor tweaks, if any. There were only minor changes in New York City, centered in Brooklyn and Queens. The most notable change under that proposal would’ve been Democratic turf added to a key swing district in the Syracuse area, currently held by Republican Rep. Brandon Williams.

But both the Senate and Assembly voted along party lines to reject the commission's map Monday, with Democrats voting against it and Republicans voting in favor.

In a statement, state Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt accused Democrats of being "poised to create their own gerrymandered maps."

"It is once again painfully obvious that Albany Democrats don’t care about the millions of New Yorkers who demanded a fair and transparent redistricting process - they only care about their own political self-interests," said Ortt, a Republican from the Buffalo area.

Gianaris said Democrats determined the commission's proposed map had constitutional issues of its own.

Specifically, he cited the commission's decision to move the homes of sitting members of Congress — including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) and Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-Pendleton) — into their current districts, despite the state constitution prohibiting the panel from taking incumbency into account. Gianaris also criticized the panel for splitting up counties in the Hudson Valley, a move that would have benefitted incumbent Reps. Marc Molinaro, a Republican, and Pat Ryan, a Democrat.

"I think at the end of the day if we come up with a map that respects communities of interest, deals with keeping political boundaries intact, and deals with some of the issues that we think are flawed in the map that was presented to us, hopefully the courts will agree," he said.

Monday's vote was the end result of a successful Democrat-led lawsuit, with the state courts determining the Independent Redistricting Commission had to submit a new proposal after the Republican-forced, court-drawn map was in place for the 2022 elections.

But the state's years-long redistricting saga appears to be destined for the courts once again.

Ron Lauder, an heir to the Estee Lauder fortune and a frequent Republican donor, has vowed to fund a GOP-led lawsuit, according to The New York Times. He did the same in 2022, when Republicans successfully argued Democrats gerrymandered the lines.

If they do file a lawsuit, the GOP might be forced to do it in a Democrat-heavy county.

The state Senate on Monday approved a measure that would require redistricting lawsuits to be filed in one of four counties: Albany County, Westchester County, Erie County and Manhattan, depending on where the plaintiff lives.

Democrats said the bill — which could get an Assembly vote this week — would cut down on "judge shopping," much like they accused Republicans of doing when they filed the 2022 suit in heavily Republican Steuben County. Republicans, in turn, accused Democrats of doing the same, by restricting future lawsuits to four blue counties.

Meanwhile, top Democrats in the Senate and Assembly were expected to work late into Monday on a new congressional map. Assembly Democrats are scheduled to have a closed-door conference around 8:30 p.m., while Senate Democrats were told to stay near the Capitol for a possible meeting of their own later this evening. The petitioning process to get on the June primary ballot is supposed to start Tuesday.

“We're going to be talking with our colleagues in the Assembly and hopefully get through it pretty quickly," Gianaris said.

This story has been updated with new information.