New York Democratic lawmakers have released a map for congressional districts that rejects a proposal by the House Democratic campaign arm chairman and leaves him vulnerable in a redrawn district.
The lawmakers presented the redrawn congressional district lines Sunday. Under the new map, Democrats likely would gain three House seats, for a total of 22, and Republicans would have four seats.
Democrats in Albany redrew the districts after a bipartisan commission that was set up in 2014 to redraw the boundaries failed to agree on a map.
New York’s current 27-member House delegation has 19 Democrats and eight Republicans. The state has lost a congressional seat due to a drop in its population in the 2020 census.
Democratic lawmakers, who hold majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, are expected to vote on the congressional boundaries by Wednesday. Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, is likely to approve the maps if they pass both chambers.
However, Democrats cannot ensure their party will win the redrawn districts in November. Turnout tends to be lower in non-presidential election cycles, and the party in the White House usually loses congressional seats during the midterm elections.
The 18th Congressional District, represented by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, currently has an R+1 Cook Partisan Voter Index (PVI) rating. This means that the district’s results in the last two presidential election cycles were 1% more Republican than the national average, making Mr. Maloney’s district the 229th most Republican in the country.
Mr. Maloney submitted to state lawmakers last week a congressional district map that would make his seat less vulnerable, The Washington Times reported. Under his map, Democrats would likely have 23 seats and Republicans three seats. Registered Democratic voters would vastly outnumber Republicans, and his PVI score would lean more Democratic.
However, Albany Democrats in both chambers decided to redraw Mr. Maloney’s district. The new map shifts his PVI score to D+1, only slightly better than his previous score. Meanwhile, other Democratic lawmakers would gain more registered Democrats in their districts, including Rep. Antonio Delgado in the 19th Congressional District.
New York political insiders suggested to The Washington Times that Mr. Maloney’s map proposal may have “annoyed” mapmakers in the state capital.
“I think he really pissed them off with his proposal,” one New York political operative said, noting the DCCC chairman’s status as an outsider to members of the state legislature may have hurt him as well.
Mr. Maloney’s campaign, however, is confident that he will prevail in November. The only Republican running in the primary for the congressional seat is Hudson Valley Assemblyman Colin Schmitt.
“The Hudson Valley has resoundingly elected and re-elected Congressman Maloney no matter the political environment, with stronger opponents than his current, January 6th cheerleading challenger, and with a less-favorable map than the new NY-18,” Mr. Maloney’s campaign spokesperson Mia Ehrenberg told The Times in a statement. “Congressman Maloney won by over 12 points in spite of record Republican turnout in 2020, and won in the wave year of 2014. He looks forward to making his case again to voters this year and is confident he’ll earn their support once again.”
Republican lawmakers’ districts took a beating. The Democrats’ map eliminated the upstate district held by Rep. Claudia Tenney, creating a deep blue seat in the center of the state.
Ms. Tenney can run in either the new heavily Democratic 22nd Congressional District, vacated by outgoing Republican Rep. John Katko, or Mr. Delgado’s 19th District.
The new lines also add more Democratic parts of Brooklyn to the GOP-heavy Staten Island-based district represented by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, while the Long Island seat is held by Rep. Lee Zeldin, who is running for governor, also leans more Democratic with new boundaries.
The Republican State Leadership Committee called the proposed lines an “egregious gerrymandered map” and a “power grab” that is following in the wake of states like Maryland, Illinois, and Oregon approving gerrymandered maps favoring Democrats.
The RSLC noted that former Obama Attorney General Eric Holder, who serves as chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, has “lambasted” Republicans on redistricting, “but has been completely silent in all of these cases.”
“New York is another example of the Democrats’ redistricting hypocrisy, with Eric Holder once again turning a blind eye to a gerrymandered map that favors Democrats,” said RSLC National Press Secretary Stephanie Rivera. “Since Democrats are positioned to lose big this November as a result of their toxic agenda, Eric Holder and his allies have to resort to desperate partisan power grabs to win elections.”
New York State Republican Committee Chairman Nick Langworthy also blasted the new map.
“These maps are the most brazen and outrageous attempt at rigging the election to keep Nancy Pelosi as Speaker. Voters spoke loud and clear in rejecting their partisan power grab last year and in 2014, but Democrats are circumventing the will of the people. They can’t win on the merits so they’re trying to win the election in a smoke-filled room rather than the ballot box,” Mr. Langworthy said in a statement.
“Governor Hochul herself admitted she would collude with Washington Democrats to ensure that [President] Joe Biden has the votes for his failed, socialist agenda,” Mr. Langworthy said. “For all of their phony protestations about transparency and fairness in elections, what they’re doing is textbook filthy, partisan gerrymandering that is clearly in violation of the New York State Constitution. We are reviewing all of our legal options to protect the voices of millions of New Yorkers.”
• Kerry Picket can be reached at kpicket@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.