Commission-Approved New York Congressional Map Proposes Minor Changes, Heads to State Legislature

New York’s Congressional map will largely mirror the lines drawn by a court master in 2022 if the Democrat-controlled New York Legislature votes in favor of the proposal of the state Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC).

The IRC voted nine to one Thursday in favor of the map, the Associated Press noted. Although there is no timetable on when the proposal will be taken up, the state Legislature will either approve it or create its own map instead. After the IRC failed to agree on a map in 2022, lawmakers were left to craft one on their own, which heavily favored Democrats when it materialized and was ultimately thrown out in court, per the AP:

A lawsuit eventually stopped the Democrats’ map from being used and a legal challenge delayed the congressional primaries.

The state’s highest court then appointed an outside expert to come up with a map for 2022. Republicans performed well under those congressional lines, flipping seats in the New York City suburbs and winning a narrow House majority.

After the defeats, Democrats sued to throw out the 2022 map. The case eventually reached the state’s high court, which in December ordered a new map to be drawn in a ruling that said the commission should have another chance to craft district lines.

Under the proposal, the most impactful changes would occur in the Twenty-Second, Nineteenth, and Eighteenth Congressional Districts, as the AP and New York Times noted. The changes there would benefit Democrats in two districts and Republicans in another, while the 23 other districts do not see major impactful changes.

Rep. Brandon Williams (R-NY) represents the Twenty-Second Congressional District in the center of the Empire State. It would expand west to the outskirts of Auburn and south to include Cortland, which are currently located in the Twenty-Fourth and Nineteenth Congressional Districts, respectively. Both Auburn and Cortland trend blue, per the AP, and would be a welcome addition to the district for Democrats, as Williams won by one point in 2022.

The proposed map makes Auburn’s electorate more influential, considering it currently sits in Rep. Claudia Tenney’s (R-NY) district, which she won by 31.4 points in 2022. On the other hand, Cortland’s exit from the Nineteenth District would help Republicans there, where Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-NY) eked out a tight victory in 2022 by 1.6 percentage points. Tweaks to the 18th Congressional District to the east, represented by Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY), appear to benefit Democrats, per the AP.

On Thursday, Charles Nesbitt, the IRC’s Republican chair, called the agreement a “historic moment,” according to the Times. IRC Democrat chair Ken Jenkins said the vote was a “victory for the commission process and for small-d democratic participation in the State of New York.”