The New York State Legislature rejected a proposed map made by the bipartisan redistricting commission and instead plans to draft new lines that could make key swing seats more Democratic.
The decision made by the New York State Senate resulted in 40-17 in favor of rejecting a set of congressional lines that the bipartisan Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) proposed. On the other hand, the State Assembly voted 99-47 to reject the proposed map.
New York Congressional Map
Now, New York state lawmakers are expected to introduce their own set of lines as a new set of challenges over what the House map will look like ahead of the Apr. 4 candidate filing deadline is expected to surface.
The House map that the IRC introduced changes that were focused on three House districts. The map would make Rep. Pat Ryan's seat in the 18th Congressional District and Rep. Marc Molinaro's in the 19th more favorable for their respective parties.
Additionally, the proposed map would have made Rep. Brandon Williams' seat in the 22nd Congressional District lean toward Democrats. The new House map was introduced after Democratic lawmakers won a lawsuit that would give the IRC a second chance to offer a set of congressional lines following a previous deadlock, as per The Hill.
A court-appointed special master was responsible for drawing up a set of lines that were used in the November midterms that allowed Republicans to gain a handful of seats. This led to Democrats becoming eager to get a redo on that particular map.
Earlier this month, the bipartisan redistricting commission voted to pass the new map 9-1, and New York Republicans favored the IRC's proposed map. They noted that it offered only minor changes to the current House map that was implemented.
Political Battle Between Parties
In a statement, New York GOP Chair Ed Cox said that the Congressional District lines that the IRC proposed represent minor changes to the existing lines that the Harkenrider Court imposed.
Behind closed doors, Democratic lawmakers are said to be haggling over a complex set of legal and political concerns. These could determine how aggressive they would become, and the choices included a dramatic redraw. This would give Democrats an advantage in 22 of the state's 26 districts, according to the New York Times.
People familiar with the discussions said that a middle ground was most likely to come out of the negotiations, which is offering Democrats enough seats to offset gains that the GOP expects to achieve from a fresh gerrymander in North Carolina.
The New York congressional map has been under scrutiny since 2022, which is when Democratic lawmakers drew one that was heavily favorable to themselves. The state's highest court then struck it down as unconstitutional.
But after the votes that were held on Monday, the Republican leader of the New York Senate, Rob Ortt, said that lawmakers from the left were "once again poised to create their own gerrymandered maps in another shameful power grab," said the Washington Post.
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