Democrats nationwide have spent months insisting their outrageous gerrymanders from California to Virginia were simply a response to Republicans\u2019 move in Texas, with New York\u2019s Gov. Kathy Hochul insisting this make it her duty to do the same here as soon as possible \u2014 conveniently ignoring how she\u2019s signed on to multiple efforts to sideline the state Constitution to redistrict the GOP into near-oblivion. <\/p>\n
The drive began in early 2021, as Democrats put three \u201celection reform\u201d measures<\/a> on the November ballot, crucially looking to sideline the Independent Redistricting Commission \u2014 created by the voters themselves in 2014 \u2014 to allow the dominant party to singlehandedly draw the new \u201cmap\u201d after the 2020 Census. <\/p>\n Solid majorities of voters in deep-blue New York rejected all three<\/a>.<\/p>\n So Democrats in the Legislature passed a bill to sideline the commission anyway<\/a> \u2014 and Hochul happily signed it.<\/p>\n Dems then tried to block the commission from its work \u2014 and then just ignored it, as the Legislature\u2019s majorities simply imposed a map<\/a> designed to cut the GOP House delegation in half, from six seats to three. <\/p>\n Republicans sued and won in state court; the judge appointed a special master to draw up a truly fair map, and the GOP wound up winning eight seats that November.<\/p>\n \t\t\tMore From\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPost Editorial Board<\/p>\n Cue the Democratic campaign to stack the state\u2019s highest court, the Court of Appeals, to ensure that wouldn\u2019t happen again: This is why the state Senate rejected respected Democratic Judge Hector LaSalle in 2023, a rank assassination<\/a> that prompted Hochul to nominate reliable lefty Rowan Wilson<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lo and behold, when Democrats launched yet another gerrymander drive in 2024, Republicans again sued \u2014 only to lose in the end, thanks to Wilson\u2019s vote. <\/p>\n Still, Dems were cautious, tweaking the map only slightly to their advantage, which proved enough to wipe out half the GOP\u2019s 2022 gains. <\/p>\n But Democrats weren\u2019t done: They set out this year to use the state courts to eliminate New York City\u2019s one Republican-leaning House district, held by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis \u2014 and were foiled only when the US Supreme Court put a stop to it<\/a>. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet opinions and commentary from our columnists\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter!\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n This is when President Donald Trump, who doesn\u2019t miss much in that goes on in his native state, began pushing Republican states to fight back. <\/p>\n