Representative Nicole Malliotakis speak with the press on Capitol Hill on July 2, 2025.
Photo: Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post/Getty Images
The U.S. Supreme Court has halted an attempt to redraw New York’s 11th Congressional District, likely ensuring that the city’s lone Republican representative, Nicole Malliotakis, will keep her seat through this year’s midterm elections.
On Monday, the Court sided with Malliotakis when it issued an emergency stay of a lower court’s ruling, which dictated that the boundaries of the congresswoman’s district are unconstitutional and need to be redrawn. Late last year, a group of Staten Island voters filed a lawsuit alleging that the district, which covers the entire borough and parts of southern Brooklyn, dilutes the voting power of Black and Latino voters by not accounting for the decades-long growth of those populations in Staten Island, thus putting it in violation of the state constitution. A State Supreme Court judge ruled in favor of their argument and ordered the state’s independent redistricting commission to redraw the district by a February deadline, a process that was put on hold following Malliotakis’s immediate appeal.
Though the Court’s order was brief and offered little explanation, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that the lower court’s ruling ordering the House district to be redrawn “blatantly discriminates on the basis of race.”
“That is unadorned racial discrimination, an inherently ‘odious’ activity that violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause except in the ‘most extraordinary’ case,” Alito wrote.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor — who was joined by the Court’s other two liberal justices, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson — issued a dissenting opinion, arguing that the Court should not intervene before the state’s highest court has had a chance to weigh in on the matter itself.
“If this Court’s grasping reach extends even to a nonfinal decision of a state trial court, then every decision from any court is now fair game. By granting these applications, the Court thrusts itself into the middle of every election-law dispute around the country, even as many States redraw their congressional maps ahead of the 2026 election. It also
invites parties searching for a sympathetic ear to file emergency applications directly with this Court, without even bothering to ask the state courts first,” Sotomayor wrote.
In a statement, Malliotakis praised the Court’s decision, saying the ruling “helps restore the public’s confidence in our judicial system and proves the challenge to our district lines was always meritless.”
“I thank the justices who stopped the voters on Staten Island and in southern Brooklyn from being stripped of their ability to elect a representative who reflects their values. Whether I serve another term in Congress is a decision for the voters, not Democrat party bosses and their high-priced lawyers,” she said.
Though the Court’s stay is only in effect temporarily, while legal challenges continue in the state courts, the move likely takes Malliotakis’s district off the board for redistricting ahead of the midterms, striking a blow to House Democrats looking to expand their representation in the chamber. Democrats had hoped to merge Malliotakis’s heavily Republican district with bluer territory, making the three-term congresswoman more vulnerable to a general-election challenger.
Speculation had grown about whether a more competitive 11th Congressional District would appeal to Representative Dan Goldman, who represents the neighboring Tenth Congressional District and is facing a significant primary challenge from former comptroller Brad Lander. The former federal prosecutor acknowledged the Supreme Court’s decision, reaffirming his plans to run for reelection in his home district. “NY-10 is my home, and it is my honor to fight for my neighbors every single day in Congress. With our most fundamental rights on the line, I look forward to earning reelection to enact a truly bold, progressive agenda, make New York City more affordable for working families, defend our democracy and the rule of law, and hold Donald Trump and his cronies accountable for their lawlessness,” he said.
Lander, who would’ve had a far easier path to victory if Goldman switched districts, also reemphasized his commitment to his congressional bid in a statement. “Once again the MAGA Supreme Court justices have put partisan politics over impartial justice. But now the race for NY-10 is set. We’re up against an AIPAC-aligned multimillionaire who bought his seat, and we’re building a people’s movement to take it back,” he said.
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