A mid-level state court on Thursday unanimously sided with Democrats hoping to redraw Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ congressional district and boosting Democrats’ prospects for winning control of the House, Politico reported.
The district reshuffling affects New York’s 11th Congressional District, which covers parts of Brooklyn and Staten Island. If the district is redrawn to cover lower Manhattan and Staten Island, it will likely push U.S. Representative Dan Goldman, a Democrat who is running against former City Comptroller Brad Lander in the June primary for NY-10, to likely run in the newly redrawn NY-11 district.
State Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Pearlman sided with Democrats in a decision last month. He concluded the makeup of Malliotakis’ seat runs afoul of language in New York’s Constitution prohibiting maps that damage minority voting rights.
He tasked the state’s redistricting commission with drawing new lines. The changes would likely result in what’s currently a safe Republican seat that combines Staten Island with moderate parts of Brooklyn turning into a toss-up district that merges Staten Island and Lower Manhattan.
Republicans quickly won a stay that prevented the map-making process from commencing. But in a brief order handed down Thursday, five judges on the First Judicial Department’s appellate division denied the GOP requests for an appeal and ended the stay. That means the redistricting commission now needs to get to work, Politico said.
The ruling likely settles the matter for good in New York’s judicial system, the news site reported. But Republicans have also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to block a change in the maps.
