Commentary: Big Tent Ideas

KILLIAN: New York Democrats Get Burned In Redistricting

No featured image available

Sometimes in life what goes around comes around and this is certainly the case with the blatantly partisan redistricting maps that New York Democrats designed.

It all began when the New York Democrats and Gov. Kathy Hochul subverted the will of the people who had voted not once, but twice, in 2014 and again in 2021, to have redistricting done by an independent commission.

The Albany Democratic machine figured out ways to make sure the commission failed and then drew heavily partisan maps with the sole goal of pushing as many Republicans as possible out of office. It didn’t matter how many communities they disenfranchised or how many district maps were shaped like pretzels.

The Albany machine could have adopted the independent commission’s Democratic leaning maps, but instead drew heavily partisan gerrymandered maps. Against all odds, Republicans took them to court. The maps were ruled unconstitutional by a panel of judges. They thought they could get away with this power grab but this time they were stopped.

The court appointed a well-respected special master to draw new maps which seem to be described as balanced and create competitiveness. This has caused chaos on the Democratic side. Part of the problem is that once again New York is losing a congressional seat due to voters fleeing South to states with lower taxes and less regulations.

In 1970, New York had 41 congressional seats. In 2023, New York will have 26 seats, down one from the current 27.

In trying to drive the Republicans out of the state, Hochul approved lines that seemingly pitted Republicans against Republicans and changed Republican districts to more Democrat, leading to potentially only 4 possible seats for New York Republicans in Congress down from the current 7. Much to the chagrin of Democrats, these new maps have not only set off dizzying chaos of who is running where but also given the Republicans an opportunity to potentially get up to 11 seats, according to Cook Political Report. Nick Langworthy, New York state Republican chair, says the candidates are so good Republicans can get 13, half the conference!

This dizzying havoc has even created a potential spot for former Mayor Bill DeBlasio to run for Congress proving there are no consequences in New York for failure.

As the Democrat legislature has done many times since their complete takeover of New York state whether it is bail “reform,” marijuana legalization, energy independence or a host of other laws, they have gone too far. However, this time the Democrats will feel the overreach themselves and this self-inflicted wound is their own fault.

Julie Killian is a former deputy mayor of Rye, New York. She is a mother of five who is passionate about saving New York. 

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.