A New York court's decision to block Democrats' gerrymandering has handed the GOP a lifeline to retake the House

Natalie Musumeci
Updated ·2 min read
23
A New York court's decision to block Democrats' gerrymandering has handed the GOP a lifeline to retake the House

  • A New York court's decision on congressional maps has given the GOP hope to retake the House.

  • New York's highest court rejected an attempt by state Democrats to redraw the congressional maps months ago.

  • In the blue state, Republicans saw significant wins in Tuesday's midterm elections.

New York's highest court's decision to reject an attempt by state Democrats to gerrymander the state's congressional maps months ago has apparently handed the GOP a rare lifeline in the battle for control of the House of Representatives.

A much-anticipated "red wave" failed to materialize in Tuesday's midterm elections, with Republicans losing Pennsylvania's Senate seat and dropping toss-up races they'd hoped to dominate.

But in Democratic stronghold New York, Republicans in the House saw significant wins, thanks in part to the April ruling by the state's Court of Appeals that sided with Republicans.

The court had struck down the new district lines, ruling that the congressional map was unconstitutional as it favored Democrats.

"As a result, judicial oversight is required to facilitate the expeditious creation of constitutionally conforming maps for use in the 2022 election and to safeguard the constitutionally protected right of New Yorkers to a fair election," Chief Judge Janet DiFiore wrote in the ruling.

DiFiore called the voided congressional map "substantively unconstitutional as drawn with impermissible partisan purpose."

New York's state constitution bans partisan gerrymandering, unlike other GOP-led states where redistricting maps were upheld.

State Democrats had insisted that they did not engage in partisan gerrymandering with the redrawing of the maps.

In Tuesday's midterm elections, New York Republicans scored wins that could help Republicans secure control of the House.

Democratic Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney — the leader of the House Democrats' campaign arm — conceded his race in a shocking defeat in New York's 18th Congressional District to Republican Mike Lawler in a shocking upset.

Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis easily defended her seat in New York's 11th Congressional District, defeating Democrat Max Rose.

In New York's 1st Congressional District, Republican Nick LaLota defeated Democrat Bridget Fleming for a seat held by Republican Lee Zeldin, who lost the governor's race to Democrat Kathy Hochul.

Republican Rep. Andrew Garbarino defended his seat against Democrat Jackie Gordon in New York's 2nd Congressional District and won re-election.

In New York's 4th Congressional District, the race was leaning towards Republican Anthony D'Esposito.

In addition to a more favorable district map, Republicans in the state also pressed concerns about inflation and crime.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Democrats held 185 seats in the House, while Republicans held 202. Control of the House remained too close to call.

Read the original article on Business Insider