The state’s voters voted to let a commsiion draw the US House districts map…..
The state lawmakers must approve that….
Then a second map would be drawn by the commission….
That never happened….
The state Appeal Court then stepped and did the the map….
It was Republican tilt….The Appeal’s court makeup isn’t anymore
The Lawmakers are working to draw there own map in the end….
If they do?
Democrats stands to gain several more House seats that added to the recent Supreme Court decision could help Democrats recapture the US House in next election….
A legal challenge that could eventually give New York Democrats a second crack at drawing new congressional district lines continued to work its way through the courts on Thursday, with a mid-level state appellate court hearing arguments that could restart redistricting by the end of the summer.
The gerrymandered lines drawn in 2022 that would have made Democrats the favorites in 22 of the state’s 26 congressional districts were thrown out on procedural grounds. That was the start of a rough year for Democrats in the state, who wound up winning only 15 of the 26 districts drawn by the courts and helped fuel Republicans’ ability to win back the U.S. House.
But lawyers with ties to the national party are now seeking to start the process from scratch — a move that could potentially help Democrats in 2024, particularly in the New York City suburbs where Republicans flipped three seats and will serve as one of the nation’s top battlegrounds.
“For all their pontificating and high-minded rhetoric about trying to defend democracy, well here they’re trying to subvert it,” former Rep. John Faso, who has helped guide the GOP’s legal strategy around redistricting in recent years, said after the hearing. “Their goal here, if they win, is to put this case back into the backrooms of Albany and D.C. so they can gerrymander the whole state.”
A constitutional amendment New Yorkers approved in 2014 says that an “Independent Redistricting Commission” draws a set of maps, then the Legislature can vote them up or down. If they are voted down, the commission draws a second set of maps that are once again given to the Legislature. If they’re voted down a second time, then lawmakers can draw their own lines.
But the commission last year never got around to producing a second set of maps. The Democratic-dominated Legislature drew its own lines, though they were ultimately scrapped once the courts intervened and drew the current lines for New York’s 26 House seats.
At issue now is whether the maps drawn by the courts were a one-off deal used only for the 2022 elections…..
Note….
The Santos NY-3rd CD district is probably going back to Democrats no matter what next year if not sooner….