![\"11th](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ny-11-redistrict08232023_PF_Fort_Wadsworth_Migrants_Presser_03-scaled-1.webp.jpeg\")
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A judge has ruled that the 11th Congressional District, currently represented by U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, is unconstitutional and must be redrawn. <\/p>\n
File photo by Paul Frangipane<\/p>\n
A Manhattan judge ruled Thursday that the configuration of New York City\u2019s sole Republican-held Congressional district is unconstitutional, and the map must be redrawn.\n<\/p>\n
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Pearlman ruled in favor of four residents of Staten Island\u2019s 11th Congressional District, represented by U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, concluding that the boundaries unlawfully dilute the voting power of Black and Latino residents.<\/p>\n
\u201cPetitioners have shown strong evidence of [a] racially polarized voting bloc, they have demonstrated a history of discrimination \u2026 and they have shown that racial appeals are still made in political campaigns today,\u201d Pearlman wrote in the decision.<\/p>\n
The judge said the state\u2019s Independent Redistricting Commission will need to draw a new district by Feb. 6. Malliotakis responded<\/a>\u00a0that she intends to appeal the decision.<\/p>\n \u201cToday\u2019s ruling is a victory for fair representation and for Staten Island\u2019s growing communities of color,\u201d wrote Chris Alexander, executive director of New York\u2019s NAACP in a statement. \u201cFor too long, Black and Latino Staten Islanders have been packed into a congressional district that dilutes their voting strength and denies them a meaningful opportunity to elect a representative of their choice.\u201d<\/p>\n In the lawsuit, filed by the Elias Law Group, a firm focused on redistricting fights<\/a>\u00a0that bolster the Democratic Party, the residents argued that a new map should combine the entirety of Staten Island with part of southern Manhattan, instead of the parts of southern Brooklyn it now includes. The new map would transfer the southern Brooklyn portion into New York\u2019s 10th District, which Democrat Dan Goldman represents.<\/p>\n The district that the petitioners propose in\u00a0court documents\u00a0<\/a> would extend up into Manhattan to include all of the financial district and parts of Greenwich Village, Chelsea and the Lower East Side.<\/p>\n Since the Lower Manhattan area that the suggested map would incorporate into the 11th District skews heavily Democratic, the shakeup could provide an opening for Democrats to flip the new district in the midterm elections. Max Rose, a moderate Democrat, had previously flipped the 11th District blue in the 2018 elections but lost to Malliotakis<\/a> in 2020.<\/p>\n Democrats represent 19 of New York\u2019s 26 districts.\n<\/p>\n Malliotakis called the lawsuit a \u201cmeritless\u201d attempt to silence voters of her district.\u00a0 \u201cWe will use every legal option at our disposal, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, to protect the voices of the people of Staten Island and Brooklyn and we are very confident that we will prevail at the end of the day,\u201d she wrote on X.<\/p>\n The new ruling could also affect the race for the 10th Congressional District. In the 10th, Goldman is facing a left-wing primary challenge from former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, and the court ruling could place the sitting representative, who lives in Lower Manhattan, into the more moderate, newly proposed 11th District.<\/p>\n In response to the news, Goldman said that he\u2019s \u201cproud to represent my constituents in my current district\u201d but that the \u201ctop priority must be to retake the majority and make Hakeem Jeffries Speaker of the House.\u201d In a statement on redistricting he made in November, he said that if Staten Island were drawn into his district, he would \u201ctake the fight for democracy and a Democratic House majority to Nicole Malliotakis\u2019 doorstep.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"nys-11](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-22-at-11.39.21-AM.jpg\")
The current configuration of NY-11, which includes all of Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn. Image courtesy of NYS GIS Data<\/p>\n
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Malliotakis unseated Democrat Max Rose in 2020, and defeated him again in 2022. REUTERS\/Andrew Kelly\n<\/p>\n