New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will take a hands-off approach to the state’s newly proposed congressional maps whose fate currently sits with the state Legislature.
The Independent Redistricting Commission last week approved new boundaries for the state’s seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, which now would have to be approved by state lawmakers in Albany before taking effect.
“There is a process to be played out,” Hochul said Wednesday in New York City. “The next step is the Legislature and let’s see what they come up with. So I will not be putting my finger on the scale. It’s not appropriate for me to do so. I’ve said that all along.”
The maps the redistricting commission greenlit would make substantial changes to some upstate House district boundaries while leaving most of the current lines in other parts of the state largely in place. The currently districts were drawn by a special master after the Court of Appeals struck down previous Democratic-drawn maps in the spring 2022, ruling them as procedurally unconstitutional and “drawn with impermissible partisan purpose.” The Legislature drew the maps because Democrats and Republicans on the Independent Redistricting Commission failed to agree on a set of maps in time.
“When it gets to me, I’ll be happy to tell you what I plan to do at that time,” Hochul said Wednesday.
The governor previously sided with a group of voters seeking to challenge the current map. She and state Attorney General Letitia James filed an amicus brief in the case supporting a lawsuit challenging the congressional maps drawn by the special master that led to these new maps being drawn to begin with.
The Legislature, where Democrats hold supermajorities in both chambers, does face a bit of a time crunch. The earliest they can vote on the new maps is Monday and petitioning to get on the ballot is scheduled to begin on Tuesday. State Assembly Democrats are scheduled to discuss the lines on Friday.
Should the Legislature approve the new lines reject the new congressional boundaries, it would draw new lines themselves.
There are a few rumblings among Democratic members. Democratic state Sen. James Skoufis, from the Hudson Valley, has already said he would oppose the new maps. Democratic Sen. Liz Krueger, of Manhattan, told Capital Tonight on Friday she hasn’t really looked at the maps completely, but knows they’re very similar to current ones and said she “can certainly see an argument for the Legislature rejecting these.”
For his part, a spokesperson for U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives who represents New York's 8th Congressional District, in Brooklyn, raised constitutional issues with the current maps, and while he didn’t say definitely they should be rejected, did say they “should be meticulously scrutinized” by the Legislature. Jeffries would benefit from a more Democratic friendly map if the party wins control of the chamber, since he would likely be the next speaker of the House.
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