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.
Mike Groll/Mike Groll/Office of Governor Ka
Gov. Kathy Hochul said she is committed to revisiting the state’s redistricting process after meeting with U.S. Rep. Joe Morelle.
Mike Groll/Mike Groll/Office of Governor Ka
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said no decisions have been made on what lawmakers will seek in terms of a constitutional amendment on redistricting.
Will Waldron/Times Union
State Republican Party Chairman Edward F. Cox said the effort from Democrats amounted to their own partisan gerrymandering.
Will Waldron/Times Union
State Senate Deputy Leader Michael Gianaris sponsors a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to reopen redistricting if another states does so first.
Will Waldron/Times Union
ALBANY — U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries dispatched a top deputy to the state Capitol Tuesday to discuss how Democrats in the state Legislature could begin the process of redrawing New York’s districts in Congress.
The messenger was a familiar face at the state Capitol: Jeffries sent U.S. Rep. Joseph Morelle, a Democrat from Rochester who was previously majority leader of the state Assembly.
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“It’s been a great afternoon to come back and see a lot of friends and talk about an issue that is critically important to the future of this republic,” Morelle said following his closed-door meetings with state lawmakers.
Morelle’s visit was prompted by last week’s decision from the U.S. Supreme Court that upheld a lower court decision invalidating Louisiana’s congressional maps, forcing the state to redraw those lines.
Morelle met with Democrats who control both chambers of the state Legislature and Gov. Kathy Hochul, who had already expressed interest in changing the state’s redistricting process ahead of his visit Tuesday.
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“I’ve recommitted to the cause,” Hochul said after her meeting with Morelle. “Last week’s horrific Supreme Court decision has given even more weight and importance to this effort.”
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The decision, which struck down the drawing of a second majority-Black district in the state as an “unconstitutional gerrymander,” could open the door for other states to reopen their redistricting process as well.
But that’s not the case in New York, where, absent a court order, the state constitution restricts redistricting to once each decade following the results of the U.S. census.
“Hakeem Jeffries asked me to come to sit with the leaders to talk about, as they near the end of the legislative session, changes that would be necessary to the state constitution to make sure we fight back,” Morelle said.
That’s easier said than done. Democrats have less than a month left in this year’s legislative session to take the first step toward redrawing the state’s districts in Congress.
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“The conversations was just kind of a beginning talk about what might be possible in the next few weeks before we leave,” said state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who met with Morelle Tuesday.
There’s already a proposal on the table in the state Legislature that would amend the state constitution to allow New York to reopen its redistricting process — but only if another state does so first.
It was introduced last year after Republicans in Texas redrew their state’s congressional maps in an effort to bolster their party’s chances in multiple competitive districts.
“The world has changed dramatically since that bill was introduced,” said state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, who sponsors that proposed amendment. “Initially, we were responding to what Texas was doing. Now Florida has joined them.”
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Democrat-led states, including Virginia and California, have also approved new congressional maps since Texas drew new lines.
But there’s no scenario in which Democrats could pass legislation in New York that would allow them to redraw the state’s congressional districts this year, when control of Congress will be up for grabs. That’s because of what it would take for lawmakers to amend the state constitution.
That requires such an amendment to be approved twice by the state Legislature — once during the current two-year legislative session and a second time in the next two-year legislative session, which begins in 2027.
The amendment would then be placed on the ballot for voters to consider. If lawmakers give the amendment first passage this year and second passage next year, it could land on the ballot as early as November 2027.
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That would tee up the ability for Democrats in the state Legislature to initiate a redrawing of the state’s districts in Congress in time for the 2028 elections — which will include a presidential election.
That’s just one part of what state lawmakers are considering in terms of overhauling the state’s redistricting process. They could also seek broader changes to how those maps are drawn each decade after the census.
“We listened, we talked, but we have not had a real discussion about what we might be willing to do,” Stewart-Cousins said.
While some states, like Texas, can redraw their maps through a vote by their state Legislature, New York created the Independent Redistricting Commission, an entity comprised evenly of members appointed by Democrats and Republicans.
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When the commission moved to redraw the state’s districts after the 2020 census, it became deadlocked and was ultimately unable to produce a single set of maps for the state Legislature to consider.
Lawmakers are considering including language in the proposed amendment that would avoid a repeat of that situation, Gianaris said.
While Democrats have framed those efforts as a response to partisan gamesmanship in other states, Republicans view them as another attempt by the majority party to tip the scales in their favor in New York by instituting their own partisan gerrymander in time for the 2028 elections.
The state constitution explicitly prohibits the state’s congressional districts from being drawn in favor of a political party or specific candidate. The new effort from Democrats in the state Legislature contradicts that mandate, said state Republican Chair Edward F. Cox.
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“Today, Morelle is in Albany under orders from Hakeem Jeffries to subvert the will of the voters by overturning that very referendum,” Cox said. “That’s not ‘defending democracy’ — that’s an attack on democracy.”
Lawmakers can either give first passage to a proposed constitutional amendment by the end of this year’s legislative session or return to Albany before the end of the year for a special session to consider that legislation.
The legislative session is scheduled to conclude on June 4.
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