NY to draw redistricting lines again, top court rules. What that means for 2024 races

Democrats scored a victory on Tuesday when New York's highest court ordered that the state's congressional districts be redrawn, giving the party a chance to shift lines in its favor for the 2024 elections.

In a 4-3 ruling, a Court of Appeals majority sided with Democrats in ordering an appointed state panel to make another effort to draw a new map for the state's 26 House districts. The panel had failed to make a second attempt in 2022 after it deadlocked along party lines, effectively punting the task to the state legislature and then the courts.

The decision ordered the Independent Redistricting Commission to submit a new map by Feb. 28, saying it was plainly given that duty by the 2014 amendment to the state constitution that created the panel, known as the IRC.

"The Constitution demands that process, not districts drawn by courts," Chief Judge Rowan Wilson wrote for the majority. "Nevertheless, the IRC failed to discharge its constitutional duty. That dereliction is undisputed."

What are the next steps in NY redistricting?

The ruling forces the state's 10-member commission to reconvene and try again to draft a congressional map. The ultimate decision on new lines, though, lies with the Democratic-led legislature, which can craft its own map if either the commission again fails to agree or if it produces a map but lawmakers reject their proposals.

The case had loomed in the political world as a key front in next year's battle for control of the narrowly divided House. New York is critical to that fight because it has seven swing seats up for grabs, six of which are held by Republican freshman in districts President Joe Biden won in 2020.

Republicans, who flipped four previously Democratic-held seats in New York in the 2022 elections, had fought to preserve the congressional lines drawn by a special master and imposed by a judge that year. They argued those lines were fair.

In a tartly worded dissenting opinion on Tuesday, judges said the majority ruling would pave the way for "partisan gamesmanship and future litigation."

"Politics triumphs over free and fair elections," Judge Anthony Cannataro wrote for the dissenters.

The decision comes less than three months before candidates normally start collecting petition signatures, leaving little time for another redistricting drama to play out. That drama would likely have three stages: after the state panel does its work, the action would move to the state legislature and then to the courts for another challenge, which Republicans already have predicted.

Looming decision: Will NY congressional lines move again? Top court takes up case that looms over 2024 races

Were NY's 2022 redistricting lines meant to last for 10 years?

The case turned on whether the lines imposed by a court last year were meant to remain in place until the next round of redistricting in 2032.

Democrats who brought the case argued that the lines were intended for the 2022 election only and that the constitution required the redistricting panel to make a second attempt at drafting a map.

Republicans rejected that view and accused Democrats of grasping for an excuse to bend lines in their favor, a practice known as gerrymandering.

Among the closely watched races in New York that could be affected by new lines is the fight for the 17th District in the Hudson Valley.

Rep. Mike Lawler of Rockland County narrowly beat Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney to win that seat in one of the nation's closest House races last year. Now he faces a likely contest in 2024 against former Rep. Mondaire Jones, who represented the district for a term and is making a comeback bid after getting derailed by last year's redistricting.

"The voters weighed in on this a decade ago, and they said they did not want gerrymandering," Lawler said at a press conference held on Monday to oppose further line changes. "They wanted fair, honest maps and for the people to choose who their representatives are — not the politicians, not the political parties."

Jones applauded Tuesday's ruling in in a string of posts on the social media site X, saying it ended "one of the darkest chapters in New York State history." He said a "court-appointed, out-of-state special master single-handedly redrew our congressional maps" in ways that split communities of interest and had far-reaching consequences.

"The whole nation has been paying the price," he said. "Today’s decision is a victory for every New Yorker who wants to be fairly represented at the federal level."

The 17th District, which consists of all of Rockland and Putnam counties, the northern half of Westchester and a few towns in Dutchess, already tilts toward Democrats: Biden beat Trump among its voters by 10 percentage points in his 2020 victory.

Other GOP-held swing seats that Democrats want to pick off to regain a House majority are those held by freshmen Reps. Marc Molinaro and Brandon Williams. Molinaro's 19th District crosses a wide swath of New York that Biden won by more than four points. Williams' 22nd District in the Syracuse area went for Biden by more than seven points.

Democrats cheer, Republicans denounce

Reactions to Tuesday's ruling broke squarely along party lines.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James, both Democrats who had joined the court case in support of redrawing House lines, applauded the decision in a joint statement. They said it rightly returns redistricting duties to the state commission and will "ensure all New Yorkers are fairly and equitably represented."

On the other side, Rep. Elise Stefanik, the New Yorker who leads the House GOP conference, joined with state Republican Chairman Ed Cox in condemning a "plainly wrong" decision that "opens the door for Democrats to rig our Congressional district lines."

"In their relentless pursuit of power at all costs, corrupt Democrats in Albany and Washington have politicized the Court of Appeals," they said in a statement. "Its once esteemed reputation is in tatters."

Conflict for commission chairman?

Ken Jenkins, chairman of the redistricting commission and leader of its five Democratic appointees, also commended the court ruling, saying members "look forward to getting back to work with our colleagues as soon as possible to ensure that New York’s voters receive the benefit of the historic redistricting reforms they voted for in 2014.”

Jenkins faces a potential conflict in his commission role because he is the top aide to Westchester County Executive George Latimer, who opened a campaign for New York's 16th Congressional District last week. That puts him in a position to help tinker with lines that may affect his boss' bid to challenge Rep. Jamaal Bowman in a Democratic primary.

Jenkins, whose title is deputy county executive, told the USA Today Network for a story published Tuesday that he intended to stay on the commission and stressed his limited role as "1 of 10 voting Commissioners" on a panel that recommends a map to the Legislature.

New York's progressive Working Families Party, which is backing Bowman in the primary, called for Jenkins to refrain from from participating in the map drawing after Tuesday's court ruling, saying it posed a "clear conflict of interest" for him.

"Commissioner Jenkins must recuse himself to ensure a fair process," the party wrote on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NYS Redistricting: Top court tosses House lines, orders new ones drawn