STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Rep. Nicole Malliotakis believes appeals filed Tuesday will preserve Staten Island’s congressional district and her political chances.
The filings seek to overturn a Manhattan judge’s Jan. 21 ruling that orders a redrawing of the district likely taking its shared portion out of South Brooklyn and moving it into lower Manhattan.
“This was a meritless lawsuit fueled by Washington Democrats claiming our district disenfranchises minorities in an effort to take out the first minority to represent the district and steal our seat,” Malliotakis said. “We will not allow them, or a judge who previously served as chief of staff for [Gov.] Kathy Hochul, to silence the voters of our district. We are appealing this decision and will continue to use every legal option at our disposal to protect the voices of the people of Staten Island and Brooklyn and are very confident that we will prevail at the end of the day.”
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Pearlman did not order specifics on how the district should be redrawn, but plaintiffs in the case, the Washington, D.C.-based Elias Law Group, sought a reconfiguration of New York’s 11th congressional district, which Staten Island currently shares with South Brooklyn, into lower Manhattan.
Malliotakis’ attorneys had sought Pearlman’s recusal but were unsuccessful. An experienced election lawyer, he’s also worked in multiple roles for Hochul, including as her chief of staff when she was lieutenant governor.”
Opponents of the district’s current configuration argue that Black and Latino voters on Staten Island have faced decades of stymied political power, and that the current map, approved in 2024 by Hochul and the New York Legislature, violates those voters’ rights under state law.
As a solution, the lawsuit proposes shifting the shared portion of the district into lower Manhattan, a move the plaintiffs say would give a fairer voice to the Island’s Black and Latino voters by having them share a district with voters in Manhattan areas like Battery Park City, the Financial District and the West Village.
They argue congressional district maps drawn in 2024 should’ve brought the 11th Congressional District into Manhattan to create a “minority influence district” where Black and Latino voters on Staten Island could combine with communities in Lower Manhattan to elect their candidates of choice.
While voters in both district-mate options went for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the last presidential election, those in lower Manhattan did so more overwhelmingly, according to an analysis from The City news outlet.
That advantage could help Democrats take the only Republican-held congressional district in the five boroughs, which Malliotakis first won in 2020 when she defeated former Democratic Rep. Max Rose.
The lawsuit, filed in October, acknowledges Malliotakis as the Island’s first Latino member of Congress, but discounts her Cuban heritage as she was “not the candidate of choice for either Black or Hispanic voters.”
Malliotakis’ attorneys filed appeals Tuesday in the New York Appellate Division and its Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court. Attorneys for the state Board of Elections did the same, citing a Feb. 6 deadline they have set for new maps to be drawn in time for this year’s congressional elections.”
Ultimately, the case is expected to make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.