In a cynical bid to allow a fast re-gerrymandering of New York’s House districts, national Democratic operatives have filed a suit that basically accuses Gov. Kathy Hochul, state Sen. Mike Gianaris and other top New York Dems of being racists.
Really!
The lawsuit claims the NY-11 district, now held by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R), “dilutes Black and Latino voting strength” in violation of state law.
But the state’s top Democrats drew that map — with Gianaris as point and Hochul, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate boss Andrea Stewart-Cousins (two African-Americans) backing his play — in advance of the 2024 elections.
Normally, the maps only get redrawn every 10 years in the wake of the Census; Dems had to pull off some elaborate maneuvers to allow their 2024 redraw — and now should only be able to tinker again by amending the state Constitution, a two-year process that would leave them unable to do it before the 2028 elections.
But Hochul’s vowed to gerrymander for 2026 — and DC-based Democratic election-meddling superlawyer Marc Elias’ firm has produced this suit to open the door to the scheme: Once a court says one district must be redone, it’s a license to shift the entire map.
Dems filed the suit in state court because Gianaris & Co. have diligently stacked New York’s top court to lean their way.
Federal courts would toss these claims in a heartbeat: NY-11 is drawn logically, uniting Staten Island with the nearest areas in Brooklyn — and the city and state have plenty of districts drawn to maximize black and Hispanic voting power.
Eight of the city’s 12 House seats are held by minorities — though Malliotakis could count as No. 9, since she’s Hispanic on her mom’s side.
The suit is exactly the kind of partisan scheme Elias is infamous for, designed to (yet again) frustrate New York voters’ preference — expressed in multiple statewide referenda — for fair, nonpartisan redistricting.
Again, the suit’s pretense that Heastie, Stewart-Cousins and Hochul were complicit in the racist suppression of minority voters exposes the soulless cynicism of this power play.
New York’s top Democrats are simply incapable of shame.