New York State’s Highest Court Orders New Congressional Maps Ahead of 2024 Elections

State Senator Joe Griffo condemned the New York State's Court of Appeals for siding with Democrats in overturning the current congressional map.

What's Going On?

The Court of Appeals in Buffalo has returned an agreeing opinion yesterday on a lawsuit stating the state's district lines need to be redrawn.

Congressional maps are updated every 10 years to coincide with the new U.S. Census data that comes out every decade. This practice is said to ensure changes within a state's population and demographics are accurately reflected in future elections.

However, there was a snag when the maps needed to be updated in 2020 because the pandemic delayed the census data for two years. So the maps could not be redrawn until census data was released in 2022.

Unfortunately, there was a lot of drama surrounding how to organize new voting districts even though they were supposed to be produced by an independent commission, made up of both Republicans and Democrats. In the end, the bipartisan group was unable to agree on new lines and relinquished the responsibility to the Democrat-controlled Legislature.

Lawmakers drew a new map that immediately sparked backlash from the GOP, who claimed the updated version deliberately diluted the state's Republican vote. The biggest criticisms were that Democrats grouped Republican voters into GOP "super districts" and placed other conservative-leaning areas within Democratic strongholds.

Republicans filed a legal challenge with the Court of Appeals and successfully blocked the maps from going into effect, as the court agreed they were improper.

As for why Republicans were able to flip a series of seats, pundits credit a strong GOP turnout at the polls.

Following the election, Democrats filed suit that demanded new maps to be drawn.

Senator Griffo, a Republican who represents Rome, condemned the lawsuit and accused Democrats of gerrymandering, which is the political manipulation of electoral districts to give a certain party an edge in elections.

Now he is furious that Democrats were successful in their latest legal challenge. Pundits are now claiming Democrats will deliberately create more favorable district lines that will give the party an edge in the 2024 elections and, possibly, control of the House of Representatives. 

Read More: The Wildest Write-in Candidates Herkimer County Voted for in 2023

The bipartisan Independent Redistricting Commission will collaborate on these new congressional lines no later than February 28, which will then need to be approved by the  Democrat-controlled Legislature.

The chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Rep. Suzan DelBene, said she was pleased with the court's decision in a public statement:

Today’s decision is a win for democracy and particularly the people of New York. We are eager for the Independent Redistricting Commission to get back to work to create a new, fair congressional map – through the process New York voters intended.

On the other end of the political spectrum, Republicans are accusing Democrats of trying to cheat their way into power.

What Griffo Says

The Rome lawmaker released a fiery statement of his own following the latest legal development and accused Democrats of politically tainting the state's highest court.

He expressed favor of the current maps, calling them "nonpolitical, fair and transparent," which he says voters supported.

He added Democrats are also disregarding the will of the people and are actively undermining a political process in order to benefit themselves - and not the public.

 I am disappointed that the New York State Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a partisan attempt to change the state’s congressional district boundaries.

"This 180-turnaround demonstrates the blatant and obvious politicizing of the state’s highest court, which previously rejected Democratic-drawn maps after a deadlocked redistricting commission failed its mission. The state judiciary also ordered an independent special master from out of state who has a solid reputation and experience to implement new legislative and congressional districts to avoid gerrymandering.

Now, after pushing for a new chief judge that would support their agenda, the Democratic majorities have successfully circumvented the will of the people and undermined the redistricting process in a way that favors them and not the public.

He closed by calling the decision "flawed" and that it threatens a balance of power in the state government:

It is an affront to New Yorkers who wisely expressed their desire to have a nonpolitical, fair and transparent redistricting process by supporting a constitutional amendment establishing the Independent Redistricting Commission in 2014 and later rejecting an attempt to essentially neuter the commission in 2021.

That said, it appears New York will be a battleground state in 2024 - if the current map of congressional districts is upheld.

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