(The Center Square) — New York Republicans are expected to vote on a proposal Thursday that would ask voters to approve redistricting changes that could widen their majority in the state’s congressional delegation.
The legislation, which will be taken up on the final day of the legislative session, would put a question on the November ballot that calls for scrapping the state’s constitutional ban on mid-decade redistricting, allow Democrats who control the Legislature to approve new maps with a simple majority vote, and ultimately redraw the state’s political boundaries to benefit the party.
“New York cannot afford to stand still. We cannot ignore the reality that Republicans have repeatedly sought to undermine democracy through various attempts to gain political advantage,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said in a statement. “At a time when democracy is under attack across the country, we have a responsibility to protect all voters including the minority communities and ensure that every New Yorker continues to have a voice.”
The proposal, which would be put before New York voters in the 2027 elections, thrusts New York into the nationwide debate over partisan redistricting efforts with several red and blue states proposing to redraw political maps ahead of the midterm elections.
In New York, the move would allow Democrats to target GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ Staten Island seat, Rep. Mike Lawler’s Hudson Valley district, and several Long Island and upstate Republican districts in future election cycles.
“The world has changed dramatically on the issue of redistricting just in the last couple of years,” Senate Deputy Leader Mike Gianaris, who is leading the effort, said in a statement. “You have some states jumping in off-cycle to draw new lines, you have the Supreme Court upending the Voting Rights Act. It’s critical that states like New York don’t keep ourselves out of the conversation and give us an opportunity to be responsive to what’s happening.”
Republicans strongly criticized the Democratic plan, vowing to use the courts to block the legislation if it advances and to defend the GOP-held congressional seats.
“New Yorkers overwhelmingly voted to take politics out of the redistricting process by creating an independent commission, yet Albany Democrats continue looking for ways to manipulate congressional maps for their own political advantage,” Lawler said in a statement. “Voters should choose their representatives, not the other way around.
Lawler has filed a bill to outlaw mid-decade redistricting and partisan gerrymandering by state Legislatures. He has blasted House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other Democrats for plodding ahead with the plans to change the state’s political maps.
“The integrity of our elections depends on public trust, and that trust is eroded when politicians try to rig the system to protect their own power,” he said.
New York’s bipartisan redistricting commission approved a plan last year after the state’s highest court ordered new congressional maps for the 2024 election. The ruling was viewed as a major win for Democrats seeking to redraw the state’s maps after a chaotic redistricting process during the November 2022 midterm elections. Republicans sought unsuccessfully to block the redrawn maps, which were signed into law by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Last year, Hochul declared that it’s “game on” with plans to redraw the blue state’s congressional districts to favor Democrats, even as the Texas Legislature moved ahead with a GOP-led redistricting plan.
Assembly Minority Leader Edward Ra suggested that Republicans would seem to block the changes from going into effect if approved by Democrats.
“There are reasons New York has redistricting rules in place. And an independent commission. And a State Constitution,” he posted on social media. “To prevent Democrats from doing EXACTLY what they’re about to do.”
