Updated: Dec. 11, 2023, 5:55 p.m.|Published: Dec. 11, 2023, 12:01 p.m.
By Paul Liotta | pliotta@siadvance.com
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis and City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli are shown in a photo composite. (Staten Island Advance file photos)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A looming court decision brought out a group of elected officials and political activists Monday to speak out against what they characterized as a possible gerrymander.
New York’s Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, heard arguments Nov. 15 in a case that could send congressional district maps back to the drawing board after a contentious 2022 process.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/South Brooklyn) and Councilman Joseph Borelli (R-South Shore) joined the morning press conference outside City Hall to speak out against the possible redrawing of congressional district lines that benefitted New York Republicans in last year’s elections.
“Here we are again because Democrats are blatantly attempting to redraw the lines to tilt the scales to get their Democratic candidates an advantage in the 2024 elections,” the congresswoman said. “They’re trying to take back the power regardless of what the voters think.”
Last year, a Steuben County judge appointed Dr. Jonathan Cervas, of the Institute for Politics and Strategy at Carnegie Mellon University, to draw district lines for Congress and the state Senate — after state courts found Senate Democrats’ maps that Gov. Kathy Hochul approved were unconstitutional.
The maps Cervas produced put Republicans, including Malliotakis in a stronger position for the 2022 elections. For example, his map linked Staten Island, the city’s most conservative borough, with more like-minded parts of southern Brooklyn — giving Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island/Southern Brooklyn) an advantage over her opponent, former Democratic Rep. Max Rose.
Malliotakis cruised to a cushy 24-point victory over Rose, who represented the district from 2018 to 2020, when he lost by a six-point margin.
An analysis from non-profit news organization THE CITY found that if the maps the state Senate drew remained in place — with Staten Island connected to more liberal Park Slope, Rose’s hometown — that the former congressman could’ve squeaked back into office with a 4,000-vote win.
Similar Republican-leaning districts around the state helped the GOP secure 11 congressional races in one of the nation’s most liberal states leading to the party’s current control of the House of Representatives.
New York Democrats, recognizing the disadvantage, filed a new case last year that has since made its way all the way to the state’s highest court.
If the Court of Appeals sides with Democrats, the maps would return to the New York Independent Redistricting Commission (NYIRC) to redraw the state’s congressional lines.
Democrats in the state Senate took over the process last year after a first-of-its kind bipartisan NYIRC failed to reach an agreement on the district lines following the 2020 U.S. Census.
New Yorkers enshrined the NYIRC in the state constitution through a 2014 ballot proposal, but it passed with a stipulation that map drawings returned to the state Senate if the commission failed to pass a set of maps.
The NYIRC produced new Assembly maps in April that were approved by the state legislature, but were nearly identical to the maps Cervas produced.
Petitioners in the ongoing congressional lawsuit wanted lines for both the state Senate and Congress given to the commission, but later narrowed their request to just the federal seats.
The lawsuit has gotten support from prominent New York Democrats, including Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James, who filed an amicus brief in April urging state courts to reconvene the NYIRC.
“Our state’s Constitution makes it clear that an independent body, with participation from the general public, is charged with drawing maps for Congressional districts,” the attorney general said in April. “Relying on a process with no accountability and with limited time for public input is not how we engage the public and ensure their interests are addressed throughout this process. I am committed to ensuring our electoral process is as transparent as possible, and that we follow the process outlined in our Constitution. New Yorkers deserve free and fair elections, and to have a say in how their communities will be represented in Congress.”