U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler joined state Republican legislators in Albany Monday to speak out against an anticipated amendment to the state constitution that would overhaul New York’s redistricting process.
Will Waldron/Times Union
Assembly Minority Leader Edward Ra said the amendment, which would have to be approved by voters, is an attempt by Democrats to redraw more of the state’s congressional districts in their favor.
Will Waldron/Times Union
State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris said the anticipated amendment is an attempt to level the playing field with other states in terms of redistricting.
Will Waldron/Times Union
It’s not the first time New York’s congressional districts will be redrawn in the past decade. Those maps have been through multiple rounds of litigation.
Jim Franco/Times Union
U.S. Rep. Joseph Morelle was sent to Albany by U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to discuss redistricting with state lawmakers and Gov. Kathy Hochul in May.
Mike Groll/Office of Gov. Kathy Hochul
Hochul has previously said she would support changing the state’s redistricting process in response to what’s happened in other states over the past year.
Will Waldron/Times Union
ALBANY — New York isn’t typically considered a political battleground at the national level but Republicans are laying the groundwork to pour millions of dollars into the state ahead of next year’s elections.
That’s when voters are expected to consider an amendment to the state constitution that would change how the state draws new districts for Congress and the state Legislature.
Article continues below this ad
That amendment, if approved by voters, is expected to allow New York to redraw its districts for Congress ahead of the 2028 elections, when all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives will be up for election. Absent a court order, the state constitution currently restricts that to once each decade following the national census.
Republicans intend to fund a campaign to defeat the amendment, which they view as an attempt by Democrats to gerrymander the state’s congressional districts in their favor.
“I expect there will be a lot of money poured in to defeat any effort by the Democrats,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler, a Republican who represents a district in the lower Hudson Valley.
Make the Times Union a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.
Add Preferred Source
Lawler, who is up for reelection this year and facing a crowded field of Democrats, made a rare appearance at the state Capitol Monday to rally with Republicans in the state Legislature against the proposed amendment, which Democrats expect to approve this week.
Article continues below this ad
That will be the first of two votes required for the amendment to be placed on the ballot. Lawmakers will have to approve it again next year before it can head to voters in November 2027.
“Whatever they bring about is about making New York less competitive in our congressional elections so they can squeeze as many Democratic representatives as they can,” said Assembly Minority Leader Edward P. Ra, a Republican from Nassau County.
Democrats have contemplated the amendment since August, when Republicans in Texas, encouraged by President Donald J. Trump, decided to redraw their state’s districts in Congress to favor their party. At the time, Gov. Kathy Hochul called the move by Texas Republicans an “insurrection” and pledged that she would be “exploring with our leaders every option to redraw our state congressional lines as soon as possible.”
Other states, including California, Florida and North Carolina, have since followed suit and approved new district lines of their own.
Article continues below this ad
The new amendment is an effort by Democrats in New York to enter that fight before the state’s next scheduled redistricting, which won’t be possible until 2032 following the 2030 census if the proposal is rejected by voters next year.
“It would be irresponsible of us to remain out of the game while all that is happening,” said state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, a Democrat from Queens.
The effort gained new momentum when the U.S. Supreme Court in April invalidated Louisiana’s congressional map in a decision that civil rights advocates have said will make it more difficult for states to draw districts that favor minority communities.
That’s expected to allow states to draw districts that dilute minority representation in Congress, particularly for Black communities. That’s part of why Democrats in New York are now seeking to weigh in, Gianaris said.
Article continues below this ad
“The world has changed dramatically in the last couple of years as it relates to redistricting,” Gianaris said.
The amendment is also expected to make changes to the state’s overall redistricting process, which is administered by the state Independent Redistricting Commission.
That commission is relatively new to New York. While it was created more than a decade ago, its first shot at redrawing the state’s districts wasn’t until 2022, after the 2020 census. That became complicated.
The 10-member commission is evenly divided between members appointed by Democrats and Republicans. Those two factions couldn’t agree on a single set of maps at the time.
Article continues below this ad
So they drew two sets of maps and sent them to the state Legislature for consideration. Democrats ended up rejecting the maps at the time and drawing their own lines, which were then struck down in court as a result of litigation brought by Republicans.
Another lawsuit was then filed challenging that process by Elias Law Group, a law firm that’s been involved in other Democrat-aligned redistricting efforts across the country.
That led to a decision by the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, that ordered New York’s districts for Congress to be redrawn in 2023. Lawler equated that effort to how Republicans reshaped their maps in Texas, which he said he also opposed.
“They did it with the sole purpose of trying to take back the majority,” said Lawler, who sponsors a bill in Congress to outlaw partisan gerrymandering.
Article continues below this ad
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from Brooklyn, dispatched U.S. Rep. Joseph Morelle, a Democrat from Rochester, to the state Capitol in early May to speak with state lawmakers about the anticipated amendment.
Jeffries and Morelle view it as a way for Democrats in New York to help level the playing field with other states, including Texas, that don’t have restrictions on the number of times they can redraw their boundary lines for congressional districts each decade.
“I don’t want New York, and I don’t want Democrats to disarm and lead to a permanent majority by the Republicans because they engage in partisan gerrymandering,” Morelle said at the time.
That’s exactly how Lawler views the situation as well —- but from his side of the aisle.
Article continues below this ad
“We know they’re full of s—,” Lawler said. “The fact is, they will do anything in their power to seize power.”
That yielded a response in kind later Monday from Gianaris, who has led discussions around the amendment expected to be approved this week by Democrats in the state Legislature.
“The only person here that’s full of s— is Mike Lawler and he has been for a long time,” Gianaris said.
Article continues below this ad