Democrats may have just gotten a surprise victory in the redistricting wars — this time in New York.
On Wednesday, New York County Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Pearlman ordered the state’s redistricting commission to redraw the 11th Congressional District, a Republican-leaning district that encompasses Staten Island and portions of southern Brooklyn. The seat is currently held by GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis.
The ruling is the result of a lawsuit that argues the district combines Staten Island and Brooklyn in a way that dilutes minority voting power, and Staten Island should instead be connected to Lower Manhattan. If the district were redrawn this way, it would almost certainly become significantly more favorable to Democrats.
The end result, if the ruling holds and is not reversed by a higher court, could be Democrats gaining an extra seat on New York’s congressional map in time for the 2026 midterm elections, something that was seen as almost impossible by experts because of the extensive, time-consuming process that would be needed under state law for another round of redistricting.
This comes after President Donald Trump put overwhelming pressure on Republican-controlled states last year to draw extra seats for the GOP to try to stave off losses in this year’s midterm elections.
Republicans in Texas, Missouri, and North Carolina complied; however, efforts to push new GOP gerrymanders in other states like Indiana, Kansas, and New Hampshire failed, while Ohio Republicans — who were actually required by state law to redistrict — agreed to a compromise with Democrats that only changed their map slightly. Meanwhile, California Democrats retaliated by deleting five Republican seats from their map, and Virginia Democrats are advancing legislation that would redraw their maps, too.
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