New York to get new congressional maps, again, before 2024 election

Dec. 12—ALBANY — New York is getting another new set of congressional maps, announced 11 months before the next election.

On Tuesday, the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, ruled that the Independent Redistricting Commission is to begin the process of redrawing congressional district lines. The court gave the IRC until Feb. 28 to file a map for the state legislature to approve.

Citing the 2014 referendum that established the IRC, the court ruled that New York must have its congressional maps drawn by the commission.

"The voters of New York amended our Constitution to provide that legislative districts be drawn by an Independent Redistricting Commission," the court's decision reads. "The Constitution demands that process, not districts drawn by courts."

Officials with the IRC reacted positively to the news that they would be given another chance.

"We are pleased with the Court of Appeals' decision and 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," said Ken Jenkins, chair of the IRC.

Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul and state Attorney General Letitia A. James issued a joint statement after the ruling was announced, lauding the court for taking their side.

"Today's redistricting decision will ensure all New Yorkers are fairly and equitably represented by elected officials," they said. "As the Court of Appeals reaffirmed today, district lines should be drawn by the Independent Redistricting Commission."

After a protracted fight in 2022 when IRC failed to submit a single set of district maps for Congress and the state legislature, the Court of Appeals ruled that a special master should draw the maps.

The special master maps established a number of competitive congressional districts on Long Island and in the Hudson Valley and have been credited for giving House Republicans their slim majority in the chamber.

The court earlier this year ordered the IRC to redraw the state Senate and Assembly maps as well, but minimal changes were made. On Tuesday, they ruled 4-3 that the final map left in place from the special master was intended only as a temporary fix and must be tossed before the 2024 election.

The IRC, split evenly between Republicans and Democrats, will submit a map to the Democrat-led legislature for final approval.

On Tuesday, the state's Republicans were quick to express their contempt for the court's ruling. In a joint statement from U.S. Rep. Elise M. Stefanik, R-Willsboro, and state Republican Committee Chair Ed Cox, they blamed state Democrats for abusing the system for their own political gain.

"The Court's decision is plainly wrong on the Constitution and the law," they said. "In their relentless pursuit of power at all costs, corrupt Democrats in Albany and Washington have politicized the Court of Appeals. Its once esteemed reputation is in tatters."

Democrats in Albany briefly battled over appointments to the court earlier this year. After the court's previous chief justice, Janet M. DiFiore, who leaned toward conservative opinions, stepped down, Hochul nominated Judge Hector D. LaSalle to run the court. Senate Democrats objected to his similarly conservative history, and killed the nomination. Eventually, the more liberal-minded Judge Rowan D. Wilson was appointed to run the court. Hanging over that debate was the fact that the court was expected to rule on whether New York's congressional maps should be redrawn.

Wilson, who has been on the Court of Appeals since 2017, voted in favor of an aggressively gerrymandered map that would have given Democrats assured victories in all but two districts in 2022. DiFiore and the other members of the court voted that measure down 4-3.

Before the court heard arguments in the case in Buffalo last month, recently appointed Judge Caitlin J. Halligan recused herself from the case, and was substituted with a judge from a lower court. State Republicans said they found the whole situation concerning.

"This outcome was preordained by Democrats' unjustified opposition to Justice Hector LaSalle and the suspicious recusal of judge Caitlin Halligan," Stefanik and Cox said. "The decision today opens the door for Democrats to rig our Constitutional district lines so that elections are decided not by the voters, but by politicians in a back room."

U.S. Rep. Mike R. Lawler, R-Pearl River, one of the Republicans elected in 2022 in a Hudson Valley district made much more competitive than in previous versions, slammed the Court of Appeals and the Democratic party that pushed for this ruling. Lawler, and his district neighbor Rep. Marcus J. Molinaro, R-Tivoli, are among the four Republicans elected in 2022 who could face a much harder road to reelection under different maps.

"Let me be clear, stacking the court to influence its decision is a direct threat to democratic norms in New York," he said.

State Senate Republican Leader Robert G. Ortt, R-North Tonawanda, accused state Democrats of stacking the Court of Appeals for their own purposes.

"This decision diminishes the voice of millions of New Yorkers who demand fairness, transparency and accountability in the redistricting process and marks the beginning of an era of partisan decision-making in New York's highest court," Ortt said.

The Republican officials pledged that they would not stop fighting to stop the redrawing process. If the IRC introduces a gerrymandered map, they could take the whole issue back to the state court system, and would likely end up back in front of the Court of Appeals.

"This politically motivated decision is just the beginning of this process, not the end," Lawler said. "As Albany and Washington Democrats seek to gerrymander the congressional lines in the coming weeks, there will undoubtedly be further legal action. Regardless of the outcome, New Yorkers will remember next November and in November of 2026."