New York’s top court orders new congressional district maps for 2024

New York’s highest court ruled Tuesday that the state must redraw maps for its 26 congressional districts, setting new boundaries in time for the 2024 election.

The state Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s ruling that found the district boundaries used in the 2022 election were only meant to be temporary, not left in place for a decade.

The court’s 4-3 decision is a victory for Democrats, whose national campaign organization wanted a chance to reopen the redistricting process and change the geographical boundaries of New York’s House districts.

Those districts, drawn by a court-appointed expert last year, split 15-11 in favor of Democrats in the 2022 election. Before the election, the Court of Appeals had rejected maps that gave Democrats a voter enrollment advantage in 22 of the 26 districts.

The court’s decision Tuesday adds a new level of uncertainty to the race for the 22nd Congressional District in Central New York. Four Democrats have already launched campaigns to challenge first-term Republican Rep. Brandon Williams in a district that includes Syracuse, Utica and Rome.

Now it’s unclear whether that district will remain intact. Also unknown is where Williams, who does not currently live in the district, will run for reelection.

As a result of Tuesday’s decision, New York will have to develop new maps for its 26 House districts in time for the state’s 2024 primary and general elections.

Voters could be assigned to vote in new districts with very different boundaries than the ones used in the 2022 elections.

The outcome of the court case has been closely watched nationally because Democrats view New York as the state that will determine which party controls the House of Representatives after the 2024 election.

Democrats are targeting six Republican-held districts in New York as the key to winning back the House majority.

In Central New York, the new district lines will affect who runs in a highly competitive district now represented by Williams, one of the top 10 targets of Democrats on the national map.

Williams reacted to Tuesday’s court decision by calling it an embarrassment.

“When our judges ignore the law, we all suffer,” Williams said in a statement. “Now, only Albany politicians will decide who can represent NYS in Congress. What a shame. What an embarrassment. What a disservice to the people of this great state.”

The existing 22nd Congressional District represented by Williams spans all of Onondaga, Madison and Oneida counties and the southeastern tip of Oswego County.

Williams, who lives outside of the 22nd District in Cayuga County, could decide to campaign in the district that includes his home. Or he could run in a nearby district with district lines that are more favorable to a Republican.

The New York Independent Redistricting Commission, a 10-person panel made up of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans, will be tasked with drawing a new set of maps. The court decision requires the commission to finish its work no later than Feb. 28, 2024.

Democrats argued in court that the commission never had a chance to finish its job last year, as required by the state constitution, when the courts rejected maps approved by lawmakers. Instead, an independent, court-appointed expert made the district maps used in last year’s election.

“Today’s decision is a win for democracy and particularly the people of New York,” said Rep. Suzan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “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.”

The commission’s final map must be approved by the New York Legislature and the governor. If lawmakers or the governor reject those maps, the Democratic-controlled legislature could draw its own district boundaries.

Jeff Wice, a professor at the New York Census and Redistricting Institute at New York Law School, said the Court of Appeals made it clear in its decision that the responsibility for redistricting rests with state lawmakers, not the courts.

“The court said that it’s time to let this play out and let the redistricting process be finished as it was intended to,’” Wice told syracuse.com.

Congressional district lines are changed every 10 years as part of a nationwide reapportionment based on new population totals reported by the U.S. Census.

As part of last year’s redistricting process, New York’s number of House seats was reduced from 27 to 26 because the state’s population gains lagged faster-growing states.

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