New York redistricting commission approves modest changes to congressional map

New York is expected to be an epicenter in the battle for the House this fall, with Republicans’ narrow majority on the line. The GOP flipped four seats in the state in the 2022 midterms, gains that helped the party win control of the chamber.

The new map, approved 9-1 by the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission, now moves for final action to the Democratic-controlled state legislature, where its fate is unclear. Several Democrats on Thursday said they were still examining the commission’s work product and remained noncommittal.

“The Senate Majority is eager to review the proposed map,” Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the top Democrat in the state Senate, said in a statement. “We plan to discuss and decide our subsequent actions soon.”

Freshman Republican Brandon Williams – who represents parts of central New York – would see the biggest change to his district under the map approved Thursday. His new seat would include more territory favorable to Democrats – likely resulting in a Democratic pickup.

But, under the compromise crafted by the commission, two Hudson Valley seats – held by Republican Marc Molinaro and Democrat Pat Ryan – each appear to have grown safer for the incumbents.

And, notably, the commission’s map leaves largely undisturbed other House districts in the New York City suburbs, which have been viewed as potential battlegrounds in November.

Ken Jenkins, the commission’s chairman and a Democrat, described Thursday’s vote as “ultimately a victory for the commission process and for small-d democratic participation in the state of New York.”

The disputes over New York’s congressional districts have been closely followed in Washington, where the outcome of redistricting fights across the country could shape which party controls the House after November’s elections.

The GOP’s majority in the chamber narrowed further this week when Democrat Tom Suozzi won a special election to succeed expelled former GOP Rep. George Santos in New York’s 3rd Congressional District on Long Island.

If approved by the legislature, the New York map would represent a far more modest outcome than what occurred last fall in North Carolina – where the GOP-controlled legislature passed a heavily gerrymandered map that is poised to ensure Republican dominance in the state’s 14-member congressional delegation.

The New York commission’s action on Thursday came after the state’s highest court tasked the panel with drawing a new map – following a protracted legal battle.

A state court judge had overseen the process of drawing the map used in the 2022 elections after the redistricting commission had failed to agree on new lines after the 2020 census.

Democrats in the state legislature have final say over the map, holding the power to reject the commission’s plan and take over the line-drawing themselves. But that risks triggering another round of legal fights, with Republicans likely to challenge any map they view as an overly aggressive gerrymander.

In a statement, Adam Kincaid, the president and executive director of the National Republican Redistricting Trust, which supports the GOP’s redistricting efforts, said the commission’s redistricting process “should have never been reopened” and called the panel’s map “a step back.”

New York faces a court-ordered deadline of February 28 to complete its redistricting process, but it was unclear Thursday when the state legislature would next meet to consider the map.

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