Federal judge blisters New York Democrats over illegal congressional district map: 'This is a Hail Mary pass'



A federal judge slammed New York Democrats on Wednesday after they sought an emergency injunction requesting the state's primary election next month use a congressional district map that was illegally gerrymandered.

What is the background?

Last month, the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, ruled that New York Democrats violated the state constitution by drawing a gerrymandered congressional district map "with impermissible partisan purpose."

Because of the ruling and to allot enough time to redraw the map, congressional and state Senate primary elections were moved from June 28 to Aug. 23.

The map, proposed earlier this year, was described as "brutal" for Republicans because it essentially guaranteed Democrats would win 22 of the state's 26 congressional districts.

BREAKING: here is NY Dems' full congressional proposal, courtesy of @zach_solomon1. This is a 22D-4R gerrymander - and a pretty effective one. https://davesredistricting.org/maps#viewmap::5874bc89-4c16-4f21-8c5a-cdabf80aeac5\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/yd7Iqx6DPh
— Dave Wasserman (@Dave Wasserman) 1643582605

What happened now?

New York Democrats sought relief in federal court this week. They argued the state's June primary should be allowed to move forward using the illegal map because there is not enough time to draw "new district lines and still comply with a longstanding federal court order meant to protect the rights of Americans casting ballots from overseas," according to the New York Times.

But federal District Judge Lewis Kaplan, a Democrat, vehemently disagreed.

Kaplan mocked New York Democrats for treating the June 28 date as if it "came down on a stone tablet in the middle of the Negev or wherever Moses brought the tablet down from on high," Politico reported.

"This is a Hail Mary pass, the object of which is to take a long shot try at having the New York primaries conducted on district lines that the state says are unconstitutional," the judge chided.

In fact, Kaplan suggested Democrats' request demonstrated a lack of respect for fair elections and the judicial system.

"In the 102 years since my father, then a Ukrainian refugee, came into this country, if there were two things that he drilled into my head, they were … free, open, rational elections [and] respect for the courts," Kaplan said, Politico reported. "The relief that I’m being asked to give today impinges, to some degree, on the public perception of both. And I’m not going to do that."

What happens now?

In the coming days, panel of judges, including Kaplan and two others, will hear Democrats' arguments in full. If they reject Democrats' arguments, then Democrats can appeal directly to the Supreme Court. Otherwise, New York's primaries will proceed with newly drawn maps.

Court slaps New York Democrats with major loss over district map: 'Unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering'



An appellate court in New York hit Democrats with a significant loss late Thursday, ruling the congressional district map approved by state Democrats is illegally gerrymandered.

What is the background?

New York Democrats introduced their proposed map of the Empire State's congressional districts earlier this year, and the state legislature adopted it.

The map, which political geography expert Dave Wasserman "described as "brutal" for Republicans, drew congressional districts in such a way that Republicans would be able to win just four seats at most, making the 22 other districts Democratic strongholds.

BREAKING: here is NY Dems' full congressional proposal, courtesy of @zach_solomon1. This is a 22D-4R gerrymander - and a pretty effective one. https://davesredistricting.org/maps#viewmap::5874bc89-4c16-4f21-8c5a-cdabf80aeac5\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/yd7Iqx6DPh
— Dave Wasserman (@Dave Wasserman) 1643582605

What happened now?

An appeals court panel ruled that New York Democrats "engaged in unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering" when drawing the new map

The court explained Democrats thus violated the New York state constitution, which states that district maps "shall not be drawn to discourage competition or for the purpose of favoring or disfavoring incumbents or other particular candidates or political parties."

The court based its decision on three factors:

  1. "[D]emocratic leaders in the legislaturedrafted the 2022 congressional redistricting map without any [R]epublican input, and the map was adopted by the legislature without asingle [R]epublican vote in favor of it."
  2. "[U]nder the 2012congressional map there were 19 elected [D]emocrats and 8 elected [R]epublicans and under the 2022 congressional map there were 22 [D]emocrat-majority and 4 [R]epublican-majority districts."
  3. Third, the court agreed with the expert testimony of political analyst Sean Trende, who testified that it was "implausible,if not impossible" that the map was drawn without partisan intent.

Michael Li, senior counsel for the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, told the New York Times the outcome was not surprising.

"Like other state courts around the country, New York courts aren’t finding the question of whether a map is a partisan gerrymander a particularly hard one to decide," Li said. "It’s very hard to defend a map like New York’s, and ultimately if it quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck."

Affirming the state legislature's right to draw the map, the court thus ordered lawmakers to redraw the map by April 30 or a court-appointed neutral expert will redraw it. However, the court did not say whether primaries scheduled for June will be postponed due to the illegality of the current map.

Top Democratic leaders, including Gov. Kathy Hochul, are expected to appeal the ruling to the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court.

Why is this important?

Congressional maps are especially important this year because control of Congress hangs in the balance.

Although Democrats are expected to face a "shellacking" in the 2022 midterm elections, they can mitigate losses if they enact heavily gerrymandered district maps. But even gerrymandering may not save them, because an increasing number of Democrats are vulnerable to losing election.

Democrats say gerrymandering is racist. But New York Dems just proposed gerrymandered map that is 'brutal' to GOP.



New York Democrats have proposed a redrawn congressional district map that kneecaps the Republican Party through heavily gerrymandered districts.

What are the details?

After reapportionment based on 2020 Census data meant that New York lost one seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Democrats in the Empire State sought to solidify their stronghold on the state by significantly gerrymandering New York's most populous areas.

Currently, Republicans represent just seven congressional districts in New York. But if the proposed redistricting map becomes law, Republicans will lose three of those districts outright, which would significantly help Democrats as they try to prevent Republicans from retaking control of the House in the 2022 midterm elections.

In fact, according to political geography expert Dave Wasserman, the proposed map is "brutal" for Republicans.

BREAKING: here is NY Dems' full congressional proposal, courtesy of @zach_solomon1. This is a 22D-4R gerrymander - and a pretty effective one. https://davesredistricting.org/maps#viewmap::5874bc89-4c16-4f21-8c5a-cdabf80aeac5\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/yd7Iqx6DPh
— Dave Wasserman (@Dave Wasserman) 1643582605

One of the biggest casualties of the gerrymandering is Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.), an outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump. Zeldin represents a district that supported Trump over President Joe Biden by four points. But with the proposed redistricting, New York's first congressional district would swing 15 points — ultimately landing 11 points in Democrats' favor.

Some Democrats had proposed an even more gerrymandered map, which allotted Democrats 23 of the 26 districts. According to Wasserman's sources, that map was drawn up to make the current map appear more tolerable.

"A theory I'm hearing a lot from NY/DC sources: a reason the DCCC chair & Marc Elias have publicly expressed support for a contorted 23D-3R gerrymander is to make whatever map comes out of Albany look more modest by comparison — a ploy to better survive a court challenge," Wasserman explained.

What is the irony?

As Democrats propose heavily gerrymandered congressional district maps (which they have also done in Illinois), Democrats have accused Republicans who draw up gerrymandered maps of being racist.

Political commentator Michael Harriot, for example, claimed in an essay published on Monday that Republicans are "motivated entirely by race" when drawing up maps. In another example, the Associated Press published a story last October noting how Democrats are "incredulous" over the district maps drawn up by Republicans; the story framed Republicans as the sole guilty party of gerrymandering.

Even the Justice Department is focusing on Republican gerrymandering while turning a blind eye to Democratic gerrymandering. In December, the DOJ sued Texas over its proposed congressional district map, arguing the map was drawn to purposefully discriminate against minority voters. The DOJ, however, did not file a suit against Illinois.