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New NY congressional lines approved by lawmakers. This time, they could actually stick.
By
Jon Campbell
Published Feb 28, 2024
Modified Feb 29, 2024
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Photo by Daniel Barry/Getty Images
By
Jon Campbell
Published Feb 28, 2024
Modified Feb 29, 2024
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New York state lawmakers voted in favor of new congressional districts on Wednesday that could finally put an end to three years of court battles and partisan bickering that kept the state’s political map in a near-constant state of flux.
The state Senate and Assembly approved the map — which lays out New York’s 26 districts in the House of Representatives — Wednesday afternoon. The speedy voting was made possible when Gov. Kathy Hochul waived the otherwise mandatory three-day waiting period for newly introduced bills.
Hochul signed the measure into law shortly after lawmakers approved them.
Democratic lawmakers unveiled the map earlier this week after they rejected a compromise plan drawn by a bipartisan panel. The Legislature’s measure would add Democratic-leaning areas on Long Island and in the Syracuse area to a pair of key swing districts that could boost the party’s chances of retaking the House of Representatives in November.
But otherwise, the new map makes only minor changes to the state’s existing districts — including a Bronx-for-Bronx swap in Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman’s district and small tweaks in Brooklyn and Queens that don’t dramatically alter any boundaries.
In a statement Wednesday, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn— who would be in line to become House speaker if Democrats pick up a handful of seats in November — said he's in favor of the new map.
"Today, the state Legislature has adopted a bipartisan congressional map that more meaningfully delivers the type of fair representation that the people of New York state deserve," he said.
Republicans have been threatening an anti-gerrymandering lawsuit for weeks and were bracing for a map that heavily favored Democrats and would have hindered the GOP’s chances in November.
But the relatively minor changes in the Democrat-drawn map took them by pleasant surprise.
Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay told reporters on Tuesday that the state’s GOP congressional delegation is generally OK with the new lines. He expected some GOP members to approve the map.
That's exactly what ended up happening. The Senate voted 45-17 in favor of the map, while the Assembly voted 115-33.
Barclay was among the 13 Assembly Republicans to vote in favor of the new boundaries, according to the unofficial vote count. Three Republicans in the state senate also crossed party lines to vote in favor of the new map.
Still, most Republicans voted against the measure, with some saying they were protesting the process that allowed Democratic lawmakers to reject the proposal from the bipartisan panel and draw the lines themselves.
"This ultimately is more about, or only about, the process," Long Island Sen. Anthony Palumbo said before voting against the bill. "The voters chose a commission to make this decision. That's not what we have here."
Wednesday’s vote was the latest, and perhaps final, step in a multiyear saga over New York’s congressional maps.
Democratic state lawmakers drew a map in 2022 that would have heavily favored their party — 22 of the proposed 26 districts voted for Democratic President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Republicans sued and successfully convinced the courts that the map violated the state constitution’s rule prohibiting the drawing of political maps to benefit a particular party or candidate.
A court-appointed expert then drew the map for the 2022 elections, and Republicans performed well, making key gains that helped them win a thin House majority. Then Democrats sued last year and won a new map on procedural grounds.
Under the state’s redistricting process, a bipartisan panel known as the Independent Redistricting Commission, or IRC, gets the first crack at drawing maps. But if the state Legislature rejects the panel’s proposals twice, state lawmakers get to step in and make their own changes.
That’s what happened on Monday: The Legislature’s Democratic majorities voted down the commission’s second proposal, clearing the way for the new map drawn by Democrats.
Senate Deputy Majority Leader Mike Gianaris (D-Queens) defended the new map on the floor of the Senate, saying lawmakers made changes that were designed to keep "communities of interest" together within districts. That includes the northeast Bronx, where Co-op City was reunited with Bowman's 16th district, as it had been prior to 2022.
Bowman, a Democrat, is facing a spirited primary challenge from Westchester County Executive George Latimer.
New York's 3rd district, a Queens and Long Island seat held by newly elected Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, would shift north and east, running along Long Island's North Shore and picking up Democratic turf in Suffolk County. Gianaris said that change was made to ensure a big chunk of the North Shore was kept together.
"On Long Island ... there now is a North Shore district, as there had been for many, many years on Long Island," he said.
The new congressional map would remain in place until 2032 — unless a lawsuit throws the matter back to the courts.
Barclay said on Tuesday that he didn’t know if a GOP lawsuit — once seen as an inevitability — was still in the cards now that Republican House members appear generally at peace with the lines. Three top New York Republicans told Gothamist they don't believe the Republican Party, as an institution, will back a lawsuit.
“I have no idea,” Barclay said. “I mean, anyone can do what they want. It's hard to tell if someone wants to sue or not.”
Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt of the Buffalo area said the GOP remains troubled by the process that allowed Democrats to draw the lines.
“I know we were disappointed with the vote on the IRC map, we were disappointed with the rejection of the independent, bipartisan process, and that dissatisfaction remains,” he told reporters on Wednesday morning.
This story was updated throughout to reflect the Legislature voting to approve the new map, with additional comments from state lawmakers.
Tagged
new york state
long island
bronx
westchester
Politics
Jon Campbell
Jon Campbell covers the New York State Capitol for WNYC and Gothamist. Prior to that, he covered the Capitol for more than a decade for the USA TODAY Network. He has twice earned the Walter T. Brown Memorial Award, an honor given annually by the Legislative Correspondents Association alumni for outstanding state government coverage. Jon grew up in the Buffalo area and graduated from the University at Albany. Got a tip? Email Jon at [email protected] or Signal at JonCampbellNY.90.
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