Even though Republicans got to draw more congressional districts nationwide, Democrats were in charge of the map in the fourth-largest state, and they didn’t let the opportunity go to waste.
Democrats’ wide majorities in the New York State Legislature allowed them to effectively ignore a new redistricting commission and draw an aggressive map that could maximize the party’s gains and improve its chances of holding on to the House majority.
Considering Republicans need a net gain of just five seats to regain control of the House, Democrats have no margin for error. If the Democratic-drawn map performs as intended, Democrats could extend their 19-to-8 advantage in the delegation to a sizable 22-4 edge. New York lost a seat during reapportionment, so the state dropped to 26 seats.
That’s the smallest number of House seats New York has had since the early 1800s. At its peak, the Empire State sent 45 House members to Capitol Hill. But New York has lost at least one House seat in every round of reapportionment since 1950. And four Republicans in the delegation would represent the GOP’s worst position in the state since after the 2008 election, when Democrats had a 26-to-3 advantage….
More @ Roll Call….
Update on NY’s redistricting ….
A New York judge on Thursday struck down the state’s new congressional and legislative maps as defying a voter-backed constitutional amendment that aimed to end partisan gerrymandering, dealing a blow to Democrats hoping to hold onto their fragile majority in the House this November.
State Supreme Court Judge Patrick McAllister in Steuben County ordered the state legislature to draw bipartisan maps by April 11 or the court will appoint an independent map drawer to do it. The state will appeal the decision, triggering an automatic stay until the state appeals court takes it up.
New York Democrats drew a new congressional map with boundaries that could gain their party as many as three new seats, a crucial advantage at a time when the House majority will come down to just a handful of wins….
More…
Update to NYS redistricting ….
New York Democrats made a last-ditch appeal to the state’s highest court on Tuesday to overturn a pair of lower-court rulings and salvage newly drawn congressional districts that overwhelmingly favor their party.
In oral arguments before the New York State Court of Appeals, lawyers for the governor and top legislative leaders said that Republicans challenging the lines had fallen short of proving that the state’s new congressional map violated a state ban on gerrymandering.
But the arguments turned tense at times, especially as several members of the seven-judge panel scrutinized the constitutionality of the mapmaking process itself….
More…