BUFFALO, N.Y. -- With Democrats controlling all facets of New York state government, many political observers expected proposed new congressional districts to favor members of the party, especially after the state Legislature took over the responsibility of drawing lines from the Independent Redistricting Commission.

SUNY political scientist Shawn Donahue said proposed lines could favor Democrats in as many as 22 of 26 districts.

"It's good for Democratic incumbents across the state, including Upstate," Donahue said. "It's not very good for Republicans. It could have been a little bit worse."

Two Western New York Democrats, Brian Higgins and Joe Morelle, would see their 26th and 25th districts, which include the cities of Buffalo and Rochester respectively, largely unchanged.

"It's a good district. It's cohesive. It keeps communities of interest together and that's what representative democracy is all about," Higgins said.

"I'm grateful that the map recognizes the Monroe County, Rochester region, Finger Lakes region, as a region, as a community of interest. Given what some people were trying to do, I think this is great for our region so I'm grateful for it," Morelle said.

When Morelle was a member of the state Assembly, he did oppose the so-called earmuff district connecting part of Buffalo and Niagara Falls to Rochester by a thin strip of land along Lake Ontario. The current proposal does include a 24th district that looks a bit like an upside down earmuff stretching all the way from Western portions of Niagara County to Watertown while essentially wrapping around Rochester.

Donahue believes part of the reason was lawmakers' desires to keep a Southern Tier district intact. Erie County would be split between three districts instead of two, with southern parts of the county folded into the new 23rd district, stretching from the Pennsylvania border to Broome County.

"If you're doing that and you already have all the other Democratic districts drawn, it's kind of hard not to have a district that has some really strange boundaries. Sometimes some political folks call it a leftover district," Donahue said.

The New York State Republican Party called the proposals "outrageous gerrymandering" and is looking at legal options. However, Donahue said a 2019 Supreme Court ruling that federal courts would not be involved in political gerrymandering claims will make any challenges difficult to win.

Incumbent 27th district Republican Chris Jacobs said he expects to run in the new 24th while Republican Claudia Tenney, who currently represents the 22nd, plans to make a bid for the new 23rd.

Neither representative currently lives in the proposed districts for which they plan to campaign although residency in the district is not required.