Plugged In @ Hinman Straub
February 8, 2022
What’s Inside
- Legislature Passes Redistricting Bills
- Political Updates
- Coming Up
Legislature Passes Redistricting Bills
The Legislature passed redistricting bills this week after the Independent Redistricting Commission failed to hold a vote on its second try to produce maps for all of New York’s congressional and state legislative districts. Governor Hochul signed them into law on Thursday. A lawsuit has been filed challenging the congressional maps and a separate lawsuit is expected challenging the state legislative maps.
The Center for Urban Research (CUR) at The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) has created the Redistricting & You: New York online map to help members of the public, journalists, elected officials, and other redistricting stakeholders compare and analyze proposed district maps in New York and can be found here.
Some highlights and observations on the new maps below:
Congressional Districts
New York was set to lose one congressional seat due to results from the last census. The new congressional maps will erase Claudia Tenney’s (R) seat and have four other districts take portions of it. Overall, the new lines present significant opportunities for Democrats to pick up several seats, even in a year that figures to be kind to Republicans.
Long Island Congressional Map
Long Island’s congressional delegation keeps its four districts, although NY-3 now extends into the Bronx. The new maps present an opportunity for Democrats to gain the seat currently held by Republican Lee Zeldin, who is vacating to run for Governor. As newly configured, only one of the four districts on Long Island holds a Republican advantage (NY-2), where prior maps were even 2-2.
New York City Congressional Map
There are several changes to the New York City maps that have drawn scrutiny. First, the seat drawn for Rep. Nadler which starts on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and snakes awkwardly down through Brooklyn has been heavily criticized for its gerrymandered appearance. Another notable change is to the district held by Rep. Malliotakis (R), NY-11. Formally, that seat contained all of Staten Island and portions of the southern end of Brooklyn, which has some Republican leaning neighborhoods. That seat now avoids those areas of Brooklyn and instead spreads further North into Park Slope, making the seat a Democratic lean and likely a difficult seat for a Republicans to maintain.
Upstate Congressional Map
As noted previously, the seat currently held by Rep. Tenney (R) is absorbed by four other nearby seats. Rep. Katko’s (R) seat, which already favored Democrats, now includes Ithaca making for a much stronger pick-up opportunity for Democrats. The currently competitive districts of Rep. Delgado (D) and Rep. Maloney (D) are now Democratic leans.
If each district voted in the coming election in the same manner as the most recent election, it is very likely that Republicans hold only four seats out of a total of 26; three upstate (NY-21, NY-23, NY-24) and one on Long Island (NY-2).
State Senate Districts
The new State Senate maps provide an opportunity for Democrats to maintain their overwhelming majority and perhaps expand it. Upstate will lose two Senate Districts in favor of one new seat for each of Brooklyn and Queens.
Long Island State Senate Map
Significant modifications were made to Long Island’s map, though it will still contain nine seats in total. Only two seats will be a clear advantage for Republicans (SD-2 and SD-4). The other seats will be a Democratic lean, though will still likely remain competitive.
New York City State Senate Map
Senator Lanza (R) is likely to hold his Staten Island district, though finding any district outside of that for a Republican to compete could be difficult. Senator Felder’s (D) district absorbs all of the Republican areas of Brooklyn that allowed Republicans to be competitive in SD-22 (formerly held by Republican Marty Golden). Senator Felder typically runs on both Democratic and Republican lines, and it would be difficult for a Republican to overcome Felder’s advantage within the Orthodox communities in a primary, if they were to even try.
Upstate State Senate Map
The Upstate map appears to give Democrats an edge in retaining all of their current seats and opportunities to gain at least two additional seats. A second Capital District seat comprised of Schenectady, Saratoga, and Troy should be a seat Democrats have an advantage in, as well as a change to Senator Akshar’s (R) Binghamton area seat which will now also include the Democratic stronghold of Ithaca. Senator Serino’s (R) district will be even more competitive and perhaps even a Democratic lean. The most competitive seat in the State Senate is no longer so, with incumbent Senator Hinchey (D) losing areas in the Capital region favorable to Republicans and gaining all of Ulster County – a Democratic stronghold.
State Assembly Districts
For as much as the State Senate maps are notable for their many changes, the State Assembly is notable for its striking similarity to the 2010 maps. Overall, not much is likely to change in the current political composition of the Assembly.
Long Island State Assembly Map
The Assembly map on Long Island is incredibly similar to the previous map, with a minor change in Suffolk County’s AD-1 that is not likely to affect the outcome.
New York City State Assembly Map
The New York City map makes a few interesting changes, mostly designed to protect a long term incumbents from progressive challenges. Democratic socialist Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani’s district is split in half, the effect of which will be to protect long serving Assemblywomen Cathy Nolan (D) from another progressive primary challenge. The districts held currently by Catalina Cruz (D) and Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas (D) are also shifted significantly.
Upstate Assembly Map
Again, as is the case on Long Island, the Assembly map in Upstate stays remarkably consistent with the previous version.
Political Updates
City & State NY’s Weekly Winners and Losers here.
DA drops Andrew Cuomo’s last sexual harassment criminal case.
NY Times: N.Y. Democrats Could Gain 3 House Seats Under Proposed District Lines here.
City & State NY: The 2022 Democratic congressional gerrymander in New York – revealed.
NYS Dem chairman Jacobs backs Adams’ call for fix to bail reform law.
New York Conservative Party in Latham for annual conference.
Cathy Young will not run in NY-23.
How will new legislative districts impact New York’s DSA?
NYT: A ‘Master Class’ in Gerrymandering, This Time Led by N.Y. Democrats here.
NBC News: New York Legislature OKs gerrymander that could net Democrats 3 more seats here.
Daily News Editorial Board: Sen. Mike Gianaris’ defense of his tortured lines tortures logic here.
How New York’s proposed district lines could be challenged in court.
Coming Up
Joint Legislative Budget Hearing: Higher Ed, 11:00am Monday, February 7.
Joint Legislative Budget Hearing: Health, 9:30am Tuesday, February 8.
Joint Legislative Budget Hearing: Local Gov, 9:30am Wednesday, February 9.
The Assembly will hold a public hearing on the deployment of electric vehicle charging stations on February 10.
Joint Legislative Budget Hearing: Mental Health, 11:00am Monday, February 14.
The Board of Regents will hold their next meeting on February 14 and 15.
JCOPE will hold its next meeting on February 15.
Joint Legislative Budget Hearing: Transportation, 9:30am Tuesday, February 15.
Joint Legislative Budget Hearing: Economic Development, 9:30am Wednesday, February 16.
Joint Legislative Budget Hearing: Taxes, 1:00pm Wednesday, February 16.
The Public Service Commission will hold its next meeting on February 17.
The Senate will hold a public hearing on the impact of sexual assault in the prison system on March 3.