The Democrat-controlled New York Assembly recently attempted to jam through a redistricting plan that would have given the Democrats a significant advantage in this year’s midterm elections, providing some relief for the party on the national level.
The suggested map has a D+9 efficiency gap, but that underestimates how far it would tilt the playing field in Democrats’ favor. The proposed map creates 20 Democratic-leaning districts, four Republican-leaning seats, and two seats that are highly contested. From the old map, this represents a gain of three Democratic-leaning districts, a loss of three Republican-leaning seats, and a loss of one extremely competitive seat. If the design is approved, Democrats will have a good chance of flipping the open Republican-held 1st and 22nd districts, as well as Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ 11th District. In the new 19th District, Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney would face Democratic Rep. Antonio Delgado in a tight contest.
Democrats redrawn the lines on the map to unfairly save their own skins in the wake of Biden’s unpopularity, attempting to award themselves a few more seats as a way of averting a slaughter in the national elections.
Judge Patrick McAllister concluded on Thursday that the Democratic-controlled legislature’s plan was unconstitutionally constructed with partisan prejudice and created no competitive seats. The state legislature has until April 11 to pass a new map and submit it to the court for approval, and McAllister emphasized that the plan must be supported by both Republicans and Democrats.
The verdict is a big triumph for Republicans, assuming it is sustained by the state’s superior court; the GOP appears to be on track to win a major victory in the 2022 midterm elections unless Democrats devise a method to avoid a slaughter. Decisions like this one should make it more difficult for them to do so.
