A 4-3 decision by the New York Court of Appeals will force the state to draw new congressional districts ahead of the 2024 elections.
Many Republicans were furious with the decision, which means an Independent Redistricting Commission will now have the job of coming up with new districts, which will then go before the Democrat-controlled Legislature for approval. The deadline for the new district maps to be drawn is February 28th.
Republicans, who won control of the House after flipping seats, sought to keep the current map in place.
Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James released the following joint statement:
“Today’s redistricting decision will ensure all New Yorkers are fairly and equitably represented by elected officials. As the Court of Appeals reaffirmed today, district lines should be drawn by the Independent Redistricting Commission. We will continue our efforts to protect voting rights for all New Yorkers.”
In April, Governor Hochul and Attorney General James submitted an amicus brief in support of efforts to redraw New York’s Congressional district lines rather than leaving the lines drawn by a court-appointed special master in place between now and the 2030 census. In their amicus brief, Governor Hochul and Attorney General James noted that the State Constitution is clear that the State Legislature must have the opportunity to remedy electoral maps found to be invalid by a court. They also noted that since the problem that led the Court of Appeals to approve the involvement of a special master — the short time to impose new electoral maps, with only months to go before the 2022 primary elections — no longer exists, the electoral maps drawn by the special master should not be used for the remainder of the decade. The decision by the Court of Appeals means that new Congressional maps will be drawn and submitted to the Legislature for review.
House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik and NYGOP Chair Ed Cox released the following joint statement in response to the New York State Court of Appeals’ decision in Hoffman v. New York State Independent Redistricting Commission:
“The Court’s decision today is plainly wrong on the Constitution and the law. 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.
This outcome was preordained by Democrats’ unjustified opposition to Justice Hector LaSalle and the suspicious recusal of Judge Caitlin Halligan.
The decision today opens the door for Democrats to rig our Congressional district lines so that elections are decided not by the voters, but by politicians in a back room.
New York Republicans will not give up the fight against gerrymandering and for free and fair elections. The people of New York deserve better than this.”
Assemblyman Phil Palmesano represents Yates, Seneca, Schuyler and Steuben Counties in Albany said:
“The Court of Appeals has just sent New York’s Congressional Districts into chaos. In 2014, the voters of this state made it clear they no longer wanted partisan gerrymandering; Democrats in Washington and Albany, however, had different plans. Instead of accepting the fair and competitive lines drawn by the Special Court Master that were used in the 2022 elections, Democrats have decided the lines needed to be redrawn because they lost control of Congress. This was always part of their plan from the beginning. First, file a lawsuit to throw out the Congressional Districts. Then appoint a new Court of Appeals Judge. This appointment was later followed by a judge’s recusal and a replacement appointed just for this case. Now, the Court of Appeals has ruled and sent the Congressional maps back to the Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC). The IRC is set up to fail to come up with a bipartisan agreement on fair and competitive Congressional Districts and instead allow the Democrat-controlled Legislature to draw new gerrymandered Congressional maps that favor Democrats to shift the power in Congress. Unfortunately, Democrats in Washington and Albany do not want fair and competitive Congressional Districts. They just want power.”
