A state appellate court temporarily halted the state’s partisan map of redistricting. It ruled that the lines drawn by the districts were the result of a highly partisan process.
“Democratic leaders in Congress drafted the 2022 congressional redistricting maps without any Republican input and it was approved by the Legislature without one Republican vote in its favor,” said the majority decision of five judges.
The 2012 map included 19 Democratic districts and 8 Republican seats. Due to New York’s population decline, the current map will contain one fewer seat. However, this new map would have cost Republicans five more seats. This means that only three Republicans can serve in a state with 27 congressional districts.
It is impossible to find a state that is so blue. The worst part is that Democrats might still get away with it.
Politico: Mike Murphy, a spokesperson for state Senate Democrats, stated that “We are happy the Court upheld legislature’s process” and that the legislature had the right to enact these maps. “The new-drawn Senate and Assembly maps now have validity. This case was always going to end at the Court of Appeals. We look forward to hearing our appeal to keep the Congressional map.
This decision was not as broad-reaching as one made by a lower-level court in late March. Steuben County’s Republican State Judge ruled that the Legislature did not have the power to draw the lines as the process required by the 2014 Constitution Amendment on redistricting had not been followed.
The state Constitution is silent, in fact, because Democrats ignored the state law that they passed to remove politics from the redistricting process through the creation of the Independent Redistricting Commission. The Commission did not submit any submissions recommending district lines and gave up.
Because the Census revealed that Democrats were losing seats in seven blue states, the Democrats overturned their own process. New York was required to overcome the expected gerrymanders from Florida and Texas, which would ensure GOP victory.
The Democrats made up a false pretense that they had not passed the “Bipartisan Redrawing Commission” and proceeded with a political massacre against Republicans.
However, the majority of appellate judges agreed with Republican arguments. They said that the Congressional lines ran afoul a new language in the state constitution which prohibits maps that are intended to benefit a specific party.
Two of five judges disagreed with this conclusion. They said it was appropriate to question the validity of the methodology that Republicans used to argue that lines were gerrymandered.
The case will be referred to the Court of Appeals in the state, which is the highest court. Every sitting judge was appointed by Democrats.
Infighting has ravaged the New York Republican Party. The party doesn’t hold any state offices, and the prospects for the future are not great. Redistricting is a repeat of what happened in redistricting. This will continue as long as New York Democrats keep their one-party monopoly, and Republicans fight ineptly among themselves.
