New York’s congressional map should be redrawn, state decide guidelines

A state judge on Wednesday ordered that New York must redraw its congressional map by early February and cease using its current map, ruling that the state’s current 11th Congressional District violates the New York State Constitution and dilutes the votes of Black and Latino voters.

The 11th District, which includes parts of New York City, including the entirety of Staten Island, is currently represented by Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis.

The ruling will likely be appealed in an appellate state court and it’s unclear if the ruling will stand through the midterm elections in November. 

New York adopted its current congressional map in 2024, after procedural and legal challenges to maps drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission and later the state legislature after the 2020 census. 

But if it stands, it could be a boon for Democrats in the midterms, potentially allowing them to flip the GOP-held 11th District if it gets redrawn by the redistricting commission in a way that would make it favor Democrats.

Given the already razor-thin margin of power in the U.S. House of Representatives, even one or two districts could mean the difference between one party winning or losing control of the House after the midterms.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a Democrat from New York, sounded a measured but supportive note when responding to the ruling.

“This ruling is the first step toward ensuring communities of interest remain intact from Staten Island to Lower Manhattan. The voters of New York deserve the fairest congressional map possible,” he wrote in a statement. 

Malliotakis, meanwhile, indicated she may consider appealing the ruling.

“We are reviewing the judge’s decision and our options to protect the voices of the people of Staten Island and Brooklyn. Nothing changes the fact that this is a frivolous attempt by Washington Democrats to steal this congressional seat from the people and we are very confident that we will prevail at the end of the day,” she said in a statement to ABC News. 

Judge Jeffrey Pearlman, a Supreme Court justice in New York County, wrote in a ruling Wednesday on a lawsuit brought by voters, who were represented by the liberal-leaning Elias Law Group, that the 11th in New York’s current map violates the state’s constitution because it dilutes the votes of Black and Latino voters.

“Based on the facts presented by the expert witness reports and on the record, it is clear to the Court that the current district lines of CD-11 are a contributing factor in the lack of representation for minority voters,” Pearlman wrote.

Pearlman said that the state’s redistricting commission should redraw the 11th District’s lines by Feb. 6, based on the request of the New York State Board of Elections that any new map should be finished by then to allow the state to prepare for elections. New York’s state primaries are in June. 

The order itself focuses mainly on redrawing the 11th District boundaries, but this would impact neighboring districts as well and will result effectively in a new congressional map. Most of the state’s districts might not be touched or changed.

Republican groups slammed the ruling, arguing that it will splinter communities in the 11th District and was a ruling made with partisan aims. 

“[Gov.] Kathy Hochul and Albany Democrats did not alter this district when they had a chance in 2024. This entire exercise is a cynical attempt to enact an illegal partisan gerrymander under the guise of a voting rights case,” New York GOP Chair Ed Cox said in a statement.

“This redistricting decision is a complete sham. They are trying to fracture our community because they don’t like how we vote,” Staten Island Republican Party Chairman Michael Tannousis said in a separate statement.