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New York’s Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law a redistricting plan that dramatically shifts the state’s political alignment in favor of Democrats and could have a significant ripple effect in the upcoming midterm elections.
Hochul signed the bill, which realigns 22 districts into heavily Democratic areas and 4 districts into Republican areas, which could result in up to four GOP seats in Congress being wiped out.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul speaks during a news conference at the Brooklyn Army Terminal Annex in the Brooklyn borough of New York Jan. 20, 2022. (Paul Frangipane/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(Paul Frangipane/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
NEW YORK CITY CRIME SURGED 38.5% OVERALL IN THE FIRST MONTH OF 2022
New York is set to lose one congressional seat due to a population decrease.
New York’s legislature approved the new congressional district maps Wednesday. They will expand Democrats’ power for years to come in a state where the party already holds a dominating advantage.
The Senate voted 43-20 on party lines to pass the congressional maps. The bill largely passed on party lines in the Assembly with a 103-45 vote.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul holds a COVID-19 briefing at the governor’s office in New York in 2021. (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
(Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
BLACK VOTERS SUE NYC OVER NONCITIZEN VOTING, CLAIM IT VIOLATES CIVIL RIGHTS LAW
Republicans, who now hold eight of New York’s 27 seats in Congress, say they’re considering fighting the maps in court, calling them an illegal attempt at a type of gerrymandering barred under the state’s constitution.
“Democrats are circumventing the will of the people,” the New York GOP tweeted on Wednesday. “They can’t win on the merits so they’re trying to win the election in a smoke-filled room rather than the ballot box.”
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Governor Hochul’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News.
A voter stands in a booth at a voting station at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET) during the mayoral election process in New York on June 12, 2021.
( ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images)
“The people of the state of New York voted, not once but twice, for non-partisan redistricting,” Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, who represents New York’s 11th congressional district, told Fox News in a statement last week. “To entertain a map drawn by Nancy Pelosi’s chief campaign operative and head of a DC organization focused on only electing Democrats to Congress is highly inappropriate, defies the will of New York’s voters and is a direct assault on the state constitution. They know they can’t win on policy, merit, or debate so this is a desperate attempt to tilt the scale to give Democrats an advantage.”
Associated Press contributed to this report