Governor and AG urge redrawing of congressional district lines
/
Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James want to see new congressional maps drawn for New York State. Don Pollard/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul
By Ryan Schwach
New York may never see the end of redistricting.
Last week, Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James filed a brief calling for the congressional redistricting maps to be redrawn, potentially beginning another episode in a drawn out redistricting saga that saw multiple versions of maps and ongoing court battles.
Hochul and James argue that the maps, which were drawn by a court-appointed special master, did not follow the correct constitutional process and did have enough public input as the law specifies. They argue that the maps do not need to stand until the next census is done in 2030, but should be redrawn before then. They also said that the previous approval was done in haste to work with the 2022 congressional elections, which resulted in more Republican controlled districts in New York, contributing the GOP’s control of the House of Representatives.
“The Governor, in her capacity as the chief executive officer of the State of New York, and the Attorney General, in her capacity as the chief legal officer of the State, file this amicus brief in support of petitioners’ position that, in accordance with the state Constitution, the current congressional map — the product of a court-administered process, undertaken with little time for public input and even less public accountability, but necessitated by the exigencies of the 2022 election calendar — may not remain in effect until 2030,” the April 7 brief said. “Instead, that map must be redrawn, and the process employed to do so must involve the Independent Redistricting Commission.”
The governor and attorney general argued that the maps must be done by the IRC as the state constitution intends.
“Our state’s Constitution makes it clear that an independent body, with participation from the general public, is charged with drawing maps for Congressional districts,” said James in a statement. “Relying on a process with no accountability and with limited time for public input is not how we engage the public and ensure their interests are addressed throughout this process. I am committed to ensuring our electoral process is as transparent as possible and that we follow the process outlined in our Constitution.”
“New Yorkers deserve free and fair elections, and to have a say in how their communities will be represented in Congress,” she added.
The amicus brief was filed in support of an appeal of a decision to toss a case that argued that the IRC must draw the lines, not a special master.
“I am committed to protecting the rights of all New Yorkers to fully participate in our electoral system,” said Hochul in a statement. “We are urging the court to support the constitutionally-protected process in order to ensure accountability and fairness for New York voters.”
The IRC, which was added to the state’s constitution in 2014, first embarked on drawing the state’s congressional, State Senate and Assembly lines in 2021. The commission was almost immediately embroiled in partisan squabbles, and submitted two separate draft maps for consideration by the public – they were only supposed to submit one.
They failed to submit one final map by their 2022 deadline, and the legislature, led by Senate Democrats, took up the task themselves.
When Hochul signed those maps into law on Feb 3, 2022, in order to keep up with the impending election schedules, New Yorker Republicans filed a lawsuit alleging that the maps were unconstitutional.
“The petitioners alleged that the process by which the two maps were adopted violated the state Constitution because the IRC had failed to submit a second redistricting plan, and thus the Legislature lacked authority to enact its own plan,” the brief reads.
In April 2022, a court sided with the petitioners and said the lines were drawn in improper means, and handed them off to a special master, who drew the lines that were used for last year’s congressional and Senate elections.
The case made its way to the Court of Appeals, which upheld the lower ruling, in part, deeming the maps unconstitutional.
The appeal will likely make its way back to the top court, which will likely soon have a new chief judge – Hochul nominated Judge Rowan Wilson to serve in the top seat on the bench on Monday.
Here in Queens, the World’s Borough has obviously not avoided the twists and turns of the redistricting process at every level of government.
The newest congressional lines saw changes to several Queens districts, including NY-6, NY-3 and NY-12.
Rep. Grace Meng lost part of her district, specifically Bayside neighborhoods, to the 3rd district – the district was eventually won by George Santos, one of the congressional districts that swapped from blue to red in 2022.
The biggest change to Queens’ congressional districts was introduced during the drafting process, and were finalized in the special master’s lines.
Specifically, former Rep. Carolyn Maloney’s 12th Congressional District was moved out of Queens entirely after including a portion of Northwest Queens for the past decade.
The Astoria, Long Island City, Woodside and Sunnyside areas previously included in the district were split between NY-14, represented by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, NY-6, represented by Meng, and NY-7, represented by Rep. Nydia Velazquez, which picked up a large bulk of the old district.
Outside of the congressional maps, the IRC has slightly over two weeks to submit their next draft of the New York State Assembly maps, which could see eight legislators moved out of the geographical districts they currently serve.
At the city level, an ongoing lawsuit has the potential to throw a wrench at the City Council lines over the drawing of districts around the Richmond Hill and Ozone Park communities who argue they are not properly represented.
That case is still on the desk of Supreme Court Judge Leslie Stroth, who has yet to make a ruling.
