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New York Democrats Propose New Redistricting Maps that Provide "Equity," Republicans Accuse Dems of Power Grab

New York Democrats Propose New Redistricting Maps that Provide "Equity," Republicans Accuse Dems of Power Grab

By Yehudit Garmaise

New York Democrats yesterday presented a redesign of the state’s congressional map that provide the party’s candidates with an advantage in 22 of the state's 26 districts, in the US House of Representatives in this fall’s midterm election.

As the number of congressional seats in New York will decline this year from 27 to 26, the redistricting process can greatly affect the state’s balance of power in the U.S. House of Representatives.

State Republican lawmakers are threatening to sue, however insiders say the court system rarely overturns Congressional redistricting maps that the legislature passes.

After the Democratic members and the Republican committee members of New York’s Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) each presented electoral maps that, unsurprisingly, most benefited their parties, the state legislature rejected both parties’ redistricting plans, which once passed, will stay in place until 2032.

After the IRC failed to come to an agreement, the redistricting process will fell back to lawmakers, who are often accused of redrawing districts in such a way to manipulate the boundaries of constituencies to favor their own parties, in a process called gerrymandering.

Most notable to Boro Park is how legislators have once again made special efforts to redraw the 10th Congressional district with other parts of Brooklyn and Manhattan’s west side in a way that some see as minimizing the effectiveness of the Orthodox Jewish bloc vote.

NY1 reporter Zach Fink described the new 10th district on Twitter as “extend[ing] from Manhattan’s West Side down into Borough Park in Brooklyn and takes a pretty windy path to get there.”

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro echoed what many locals feel, when said on Twitter that the newly drawn districts are “specifically designed to exclude the Orthodox Jewish vote.” 

Democratic legislators insist that the redrawn districts were not politically motivated, however, Republicans accuse Democrats of engaging in the same kind of gerrymandering of which Republicans are often accused.

Nick Langworthy, the chairman of the New York Republican Party, blasted the map as a “textbook filthy, partisan gerrymandering” and hinted that Republicans might challenge the proposed district as unconstitutional in court, the New York Times reported.

“These maps are the most brazen and outrageous attempt at rigging the election to keep Nancy Pelosi as speaker,” he said, adding that Democrats “can’t win on the merits so they’re trying to win the election in a smoke-filled room rather than the ballot box.”

Dave Wasserman, a national elections analyst with the Cook Political Report called the Democrats’ proposed lines “an effective gerrymander.” 

“With the stroke of a pen they can gain three seats and eliminate four Republican seats," Wasserman said.


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