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New York’s new bipartisan Redistribution Commission got off to a bad start on Wednesday, with its Democratic and Republican members failing to agree on a first set of congressional map proposals and legislation.
Instead, the New York State Independent Redistribution Commission, the body empowered by voters to remove politics from the mapping process, said it would proceed for now with two competing proposals, one developed by its Democratic members and the other by Republicans.
While New York is expected to lose a seat on its delegation to Congress after last year’s census, both sides have proposed the collapse of a district in the upstate, where the population has declined.
But the Republican plan would do so by revamping a handful of districts in the Hudson Valley and the capital region that could pit the incumbent Democrats against each other, while preserving the shape of the rural red seats in the western section. of State. Democrats are proposing the opposite, potentially moving Republican incumbents to central and western New York while bolstering Democratic incumbents in the Hudson Valley.
Other big differences were evident. As Republicans redrawn the lines across New York City, potentially jeopardizing several longtime Democrats in Manhattan and Brooklyn, they would essentially leave the Staten Island-based district now held by Republican Nicole Malliotakis untouched.
Democrats, on the other hand, would leave the city limits more intact, but redesign Ms Malliotakis’ seat to include Coney Island in Brooklyn, which is largely Democrat, a move that would make the neighborhood more competitive. Their card also appeared to create a new opportunity for Long Island Democrats to take a seat.
Nothing in the New York State Constitution obliges the commission, which draws lines for the first time since its inception in 2014, to accept a single set of maps for the congressional, assembly and district districts. State Senate at this point in the process. But the partisan feud over what amounts to a preliminary discussion does not encourage optimism that the commission can unite around a single set of bipartisan cards to present to Albany for ratification.
His failure could pave the way for qualified Democratic majorities in Albany to step in to determine the final cards early next year. Party leaders there and in Washington are already quietly circling around in case the commission cannot come to a final deal or produce a final result like the party leaders. They hope to use the process to eliminate up to five Republican seats in Congress, strengthening the party nationally as it attempts to maintain a narrow majority in the House and firm up permanent majorities in the legislature.
Under the New York Constitution, the Redistribution Commission leads the way in drawing maps. But if it fails to come to a consensus among itself, or if it provides lawmakers with a map they don’t like, the Legislature can overpower the body and draw almost any map of its own. choice, provided that the districts meet constitutional requirements and are roughly equal in size.
Republicans in New York and Albany are already balking at the process and could challenge the outcome in courts, which mapped out Congress’ current map in 2012 amid a partisan dispute in Albany.
Republican commissioners were quick to point the finger at their Democratic counterparts on Wednesday, whom they accused of having interrupted in recent days discussions aimed at trying to reconcile the competing cards. Privately, Republicans fear the Democratic commissioners have no intention of reaching a deal and prefer to let the body fail so they can kickstart the process directly in the legislature to draw more advantageous cards for their party.
“The constitution is pretty clear in what we’re supposed to do: They appointed the commission as an independent body to work together and find a non-partisan path by actually discussing things,” Jack Martins, vice-president. Republican chairman of the committee. , said in an interview. “The fact that part of the commission decided to move away from it is very disappointing.”
Democrats argued that competing cards could be a good thing, allowing voters to give their opinion on what they prefer. Commissioners stressed that the presentation of two decks of cards on Wednesday had not closed the door to the possibility that they would eventually find a consensus before the January deadline.
“We could either draw these maps in a smoke-filled zoom in 48 hours or make the maps available to the public and let the public weigh in,” said David Imamura, the Democratic candidate who chairs the panel. “In the interest of public participation, we have decided to release both sets of cards. “
Members of Congress from both parties largely withheld their comments, although Ms Malliotakis said she was not worried.
“Whatever the final configuration of the district, I am extremely confident to be re-elected next year,” she said.
New York voters created the independent commission by constitutional amendment in 2014, but its outlines were the product of a compromise between Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the Republicans, who controlled the State Senate at the era. The idea was to take the plotting out of the hands of politicians in the Legislative Assembly eager to protect their party and their incumbents and, starting this year, give it to a two-party body that could fairly divide the state.
But the commission struggled to assert its independence from the start, and critics say its structure – with most of the people nominated by party leaders in the legislature – makes compromise extremely difficult.
The panel only received funding from Albany in April, forcing commissioners to volunteer their time for months. The Legislature, on the other hand, continued to fund its own card-making task force year after year.
The panel only received detailed census data last month due to national delays; it is still waiting for the official data on the state’s prison population that the commission needs to refine its maps. And even as the commission prepared to release the maps, another hiccup emerged: Its website briefly crashed on Wednesday.
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