New York Democrats reject bipartisan congressional map and draw their own lines

CNN —

Democrats who control the New York Legislature on Monday rejected a congressional map devised by a bipartisan commission that would have given their party only a modest electoral advantage and will now have the chance to draw their own lines.

The decision could shape which party controls the US House next year. New York is expected to be at the center of the battle for the chamber this fall, with Republicans’ narrow majority on the line. The GOP flipped four House seats in the state in the 2022 midterms, gains that helped the party win control of the chamber.

Several New York Democrats had signaled their displeasure with the map that was approved 9-1 by the state’s Independent Redistricting Commission earlier this month. The map largely left undisturbed House districts in the New York City suburbs, which have been viewed as potential battlegrounds in November. Those include the 3rd Congressional District on Long Island, which Democrats flipped earlier this month in a special election to succeed disgraced former Rep. George Santos.

The commission’s map would have put at risk freshman Republican Brandon Williams’ central New York seat by adding more territory favorable to Democrats. But, under the compromise crafted by the commission, two Hudson Valley seats – held by Republican Marc Molinaro and Democrat Pat Ryan – each appeared to have grown safer for the incumbents.

The US Capitol is seen at sunrise in Washington, DC, on October 18, 2023.

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On the Senate floor Monday afternoon, Democrat Michael Gianaris, the chamber’s deputy majority leader, criticized the commission’s map as slicing through counties in