A lawsuit filed Monday by Democratic lawyers over New York\u2019s congressional map could be seen broadly as an attempt to redraw the lines in a blue state at a time when\u00a0several red states, pressed\u00a0by President Donald Trump, are redrawing lines to favor Republicans.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit, filed by two Staten Island and two Manhattan residents,\u00a0claims New York’s\u00a0map illegally dilutes the power of minority voters in Congressional District 11, a Brooklyn-Staten Island district. The district’s current officeholder, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island), is the lone Republican in the New York City congressional\u00a0delegation.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit says Staten Island\u2019s Black and Latino population has risen from 11% to 30% since 1980 while its white population has fallen from 85% to 56% and the state\u2019s lines “confine Staten Island\u2019s growing Black and Latino communities in a district where they are routinely and systematically unable to influence elections for their representative of choice.”<\/p>\n
Instead, a fair map would combine Staten Island\u2019s north shore in a district with Manhattan\u2019s southern tip to create a district of “minority influence,” the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n
The petitioners were represented by a New York law firm, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff, in partnership\u00a0 with the Elias Law Group, the Washington-based firm that has represented Democrats in redistricting and other election-law matters around the country.<\/p>\n
Normally, every state redraws its maps following the once-a-decade census count, with new maps in place for years such as 2022, 2012 and 2002.<\/p>\n
But Trump has upended\u00a0that by pushing Republican-led <\/a>states to redraw their maps as fast as possible <\/a>to help the GOP in the 2026 midterm elections. So far, three states have done so, with others\u00a0still considering <\/a>action.<\/p>\n