The New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, ruled that the bipartisan Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) tasked with redrawing congressional district lines be given another chance. The significance of this decision is that the bipartisan commission couldn't agree on district lines in 2020, giving the task to the state legislature where Democrats have a super majority.
The map Democrats drew would have given the party 22 of 26 districts in the state and virtually destroyed the Republican party.
Thankfully, a state judge ruled that the grossly gerrymandered map needed to be fairer, and a special master then redrew the lines. That map gave Republicans a three-seat pickup in the state and an eventual partisan split of 15-11 in favor of Democrats.
But now, the Court of Appeals has ruled that because the map used in 2022 was imposed on procedural grounds, another round of map drawing starting with the bipartisan Independent Redistricting Commission must be undertaken.
“We are holding the IRC and legislature to what the Constitution demands and will do so as often as necessary to secure compliance with its mandate,” Chief Judge Rowan Wilson wrote, pointing to commissioners’ failure to arrange a final meeting date in 2022.
“That said, we trust that the members of the IRC will act as the Constitution requires without further need for judicial intervention. After all, the IRC members, like us, may not ignore our respective constitutional duties.”
“New York Republicans will not give up the fight against gerrymandering and for free and fair elections. The people of New York deserve better than this,” GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik and state party chair Ed Cox said in a joint statement.
A 2014 constitutional amendment spelled out the requirements for a non-partisan district map.
Districts need to be “as compact in form as practicable” and can’t be drawn to “discourage competition or for the purpose of favoring or disfavoring incumbents or other particular candidates or political parties.”
There’s also language that encourages lines to unite “communities of interest.”
But a creative mapmaker can defend any funny-looking lines they want through the vague criteria. For example, one map drawn by Democrats last year linked parts of Long Island with the Bronx and Westchester County with the justification that all of its residents lived near the Long Island Sound.
With control of the House of Representatives on a knife's edge, any map that gives New York Democrats a three- or four-seat gerrymander would make it extremely difficult for Republicans to maintain control of the House.
Democrats this time could draw lines to edge out some Republican incumbents to try to guarantee some pickups — the all-GOP delegation on Long Island is probably sleeping less soundly tonight, as is Staten Island’s Nicole Malliotakis; the Hudson Valley’s Mike Lawler and Marc Molinaro; and central New York’s Brandon Williams.
Even a few surefire wins could help erase the hole Democrats nationally are facing after Republicans drew a potent gerrymander in North Carolina that will all but guarantee the GOP picks up three or four seats there.
Republicans managed to gerrymander a map in North Carolina that may give them two or three seats if it stands up to legal scrutiny. But there are also ongoing challenges in Georgia and Louisiana that could give Democrats a seat or two.
New York is the Democrats' last chance to flip the House in one fell swoop. Given the stakes, they aren't likely to miss.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member