Republicans could lose their narrow majority in the House come November — especially if Democrats get their way in New York.
Democrats in the Empire State rejected a proposal Monday for a new congressional map drawn by the bipartisan Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC). New Yorkers passed a constitutional amendment in 2014 creating the commission and tasking it with drawing new maps every 10 years. The commission’s map would have slightly altered the 2022 map drawn by a special master that helped Republicans flip four seats. Republicans currently hold 10 of the state’s congressional seats, while Democrats hold 16.
Republicans previously held an additional seat until they joined with Democrats to oust George Santos in December. Former Democrat Rep. Tom Suozzi then filled Santos’ seat in a special election.
Instead of accepting the commission’s map, Democrats proposed a new map and adopted it on Wednesday, with Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul signing the proposal Wednesday afternoon.
The new map leaves Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ seat alone but extends Suozzi’s toss-up district to pick up more Democrat ground, Gothamist reported.
Santos won the district in 2022 by nearly eight percentage points, despite President Joe Biden winning the district in 2020 by eight points. Under the new map, Suozzi’s district would be reliably more blue, reflecting an attempt to turn one of the state’s competitive districts into a Democrat stronghold.
The new map also targets freshman Republican Rep. Brandon Williams’ district by adding Auburn and Cortland, both of which lean
