The Redistricting Process that Could Take a Decade

The outcome of New York State's house races will play a crucial role in determining party control of the United States House of Representatives (USHR). Last December, New York State’s highest court overruled the 2022 district maps that helped House Republicans flip four seats during the midterm elections. Now, Democrats are fighting to enact favorable district lines ahead of the 2024 election, hoping to win back some of the seats they lost two years ago.  

In 2014, New Yorkers voted to implement Proposition 1, a state constitutional amendment that delegates redistricting to a bipartisan commission. Proposition 1 gives the state legislature the final say on the map drawn by the commission. The amendment also created the first legally enforceable protections against partisan gerrymandering. Proposition 1 sounds more than ideal for “ending self interest bipartisan gerrymandering,” as Cuomo bragged following the amendment’s adoption; however, the amendment has a few elements that make the redistricting process less than impartial. While the commission is labeled as "bipartisan" and "independent" to avoid political influence, in reality, eight out of ten commission members are appointed by the Democrat dominated state legislature. Crucially, the state legislature has the authority to vote on the adoption of the district maps. While Proposition 1 suggests increased bipartisanship in redistricting, it's important to emphasize that Democrats gained an overwhelming majority in both Houses ahead of the redistricting cycle, essentially granting them control over the entire process.

Amidst this dynamic political landscape, in the aftermath of the 2020 census, New York, like most states, had to redraw their district maps in response to demographic shifts. Despite the Democratic stronghold over the process, Republican appointees on the commission obstructed progress, resulting in a situation where there were no maps available to present to the legislature. As a result, since Democrats held a majority in the state legislature, they took charge of redrawing the electoral maps for the 2022 elections. However, as suspected by Republican commission members, the maps produced by the legislature heavily favored Democrats. The State Court of Appeals later ruled that these new maps, created under Democratic control, were unfairly biased, violating the state constitution. The court ordered a special master, a private individual appointed by the court to fulfill specific duties in civil cases, to redraw the maps ahead of the midterm elections. The electoral map produced for the 2022 elections proved to be highly competitive, sparking intense contests in House races across New York State two years ago.

In December 12, 2023, the New York State Court of Appeals mandated the State to redraw its district lines, declaring that the map used in the midterm elections was only intended as a temporary measure. Republicans were staunchly opposed to the December 12th ruling, pointing out the partisan nature of the lawsuit, which was brought forth and funded by Democratic and Democratic-affiliated actors such as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Elias Law Group. The December 12 ruling enables Democrats to further shift the map drawn by the special master to the left. As in 2022, under Proposition 1, the bipartisan commission was assigned the responsibility of drafting new maps. In this instance, the commission not only successfully fulfilled this task but also approved the map with an overwhelming 9-1 majority. The final map closely resembled the fairly competitive and equitable one crafted by the special master. 

On February 26th, the New York State Legislature rejected the map, contending that the district lines disrupted natural communities and improperly divided counties. The redistricting process will now again be in the hands of the New York State Legislature. Legislature members, like lawmakers in DC, know the fight for control of the USHR will run through counties in Long Island, the Hudson Valley and around Syracuse. Under the leadership of top Democratic party officials in DC, the Legislature in New York is walking a fine line—they want to avoid proposing maps that could be rejected by the courts for gerrymandering, while simultaneously aiming for less competitive races for incumbent Democrats and hoping to flip some seats gained by Republicans in the 2022 midterms. As Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) points out following the Legislature’s ruling: “For a party that claims they want to protect democracy and put people over politics, they sure have a funny way of showing it.”  In their pursuit of control over the U.S. House of Representatives, House Democrats are leveraging the court system and legislative majority to influence and alter the originally bipartisan and equal map crafted by the special master. New York serves as a microcosm of the election manipulation and partisan politics unfolding nationwide, dynamics that are likely to manifest in the 2024 elections.

Jacqueline Metzler is a sophomore at Brown University studying International and Public Affairs on the Policy and Governance track. She is a staff writer for the Brown Undergraduate Law Review and can be contacted at jacqueline_metzler@brown.edu. 

Veronica Dickstein is a sophomore at Brown University studying International and Public Affairs. She is a staff editor for the Brown Undergraduate Law Review and can be contacted at veronica_dickstein@brown.edu.