Lawsuit Filed Over New District Maps Approved by Democrats in NY

By Dan Clark on Feb. 4, 2022

A lawsuit was filed over New York's newly approved district lines for Congress Thursday evening, pitting a handful of voters in court against top lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Those voters argued in the lawsuit that the state Legislature didn't go through the correct legal avenues in crafting the new lines, and drew them to the advantage of Democrats in this year's elections.

The new maps, which are redrawn every 10 years based on the results of the U.S. census, were supposed to be designed by a new commission created in the last decade by the state Legislature, through an amendment to the state constitution. That panel, called the Independent Redistricting Commission, failed to come to an agreement on a new set of maps.

The commission, because of the gridlock, sent two competing sets of maps to the Legislature for consideration. Because of that gridlock, the Legislature rejected both sets of maps.

When the Legislature voted against the maps, that triggered part of the constitutional amendment that required the panel to negotiate a second set of maps for the Legislature to consider. Instead, the gridlock continued, and the commission failed to produce a second set of maps for consideration.

The state Legislature then took over the process, and approved new maps for Congress, the State Senate, and the Assembly this week, drawn by a special, internal legislative task force.

Gov. Kathy Hochul signed those maps into law Thursday evening, after which the new lawsuit was filed.

The lawsuit, which is targeted specifically at the new maps for Congress, argued that the new maps weren't valid because the commission hadn't produced a second set of maps for the Legislature to consider and, therefore, the Legislature skipped that step in approving its own maps. 

There was a deadline, under law, for the commission to produce the second set, but the panel voluntarily called it quits the day before.

"The Constitution requires that the Legislature 'vote upon' the 'second redistricting plan and the necessary implementing legislation' before it may introduce its own plan, and yet the Legislature never complied with these rules," the lawsuit read.

The lawsuit also argued that the new maps drawn and approved through the Legislature violated part of the state constitution that outlawed the practice of carving lines to favor specific lawmakers or parties. In other words, that part of the constitution explicitly made gerrymandering illegal.

The new districts for Congress were drawn to benefit Democrats, and knock Republicans out of key seats, the lawsuit argued.

The lawsuit was filed in Steuben County, in the State Supreme Court, the lowest of three judicial tiers in New York for this kind of legal action.

By Karen DeWitt on Feb. 3, 2022

Republicans in the New York State Legislature are threatening legal action now that the Senate and Assembly have approved new district maps for congressional and legislative seats that the GOP says are blatantly gerrymandered.

Republicans plan to mount a legal challenge, and they believe that this time, they might have a chance to win.   

The new maps were approved by the Democratic supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature after Republicans voiced their complaints over districts that will result in 4 Republican state senators squeezed into 2 districts, and forced to compete against each other.  

The maps also redraw the districts of 4 of 8 GOP congressional representatives to add more Democratic voters, which will likely make it harder for them to win reelection in November.   

The Democrats drew the maps after a bipartisan commission gridlocked and could not agree on one set of maps.  

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Andrew Lanza called it the “greatest power grab ever” that he says comes at the expense of the people of New York. 

“Gerrymanders is not just some funny expression that we talk about,” Lanza said. “It means the voters were screwed. “  

“That’s what gerrymandering means,” Lanza continued. “It means the voters were used as pawns to serve one party.”  

Republicans are no strangers to manipulating districts to help their party keep in power. For decades, when the GOP controlled the Senate, they jointly drew the maps with Democrats who lead the state Assembly. Each party allowed the other to retain their dominance in their respective houses. 

It’s not only Republicans who are critical of the maps.  

During debate over the new congressional district lines, on Wednesday, Senator Tom O’Mara quoted an assessment from redistricting expert Michael Li, with New York University’s Brennan Center, to bolster the GOP’s argument. 

“He’s been quoted as, ‘I think the maps that are proposed in New York for Congress really, in a lot of ways, are a master class in gerrymandering,’” O’Mara said. “‘They take maps that were very responsive and had a lot of competition, and they take out a number of Republican incumbents very strategically.’” 

“That gentleman is mistaken,” answered Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, who defended the maps during debate.   

Gianaris says the maps are drawn fairly, and that many of the changes were made to fix the results of Republican gerrymandering in the past.  

Li, in an interview, says the maps are gerrymandered, and would not stand up to the standards in the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act that Democrats in Congress hope to pass. 

“There’s no question that this map has a lot of partisan bias in it and that it’s a problem,” Li said. “The real question is whether courts are going to be willing to wade into that, and how much time they are going to need to do that work.” 

Republicans say a lawsuit is likely. In past decades, the state’s courts have sided with the Legislature over challengers to the maps. But this time, because of a change to the state’s constitution in 2014, the districts cannot be designed to help or harm incumbents or quell competition.  

Susan Lerner, with the government reform group Common Cause, says that might give challengers a shot.    

“What’s relevant is the fact that there are now stated criteria in our state constitution,” Lerner said. “Previously all the constitution said was that the legislature gets to draw the maps.”  

Lerner calls the maps a “major disservice to voters.”    

Li says it remains to be seen whether the judges on the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, will decide to take on what could be a time-consuming case. 

“None of these judges have had a case that is anything like this before,” Li said. “So this is uncharted territory.” 

He predicts that the maps, which are expected to be signed by Governor Kathy Hochul, will remain in place for at least for the 2022 elections.