New York’s Republican lawmakers and allies on Monday urged the state’s highest court to uphold the “competitive” congressional districts maps approved for the 2022 midterm elections for the 2024 races.
In a 4-3 vote last year, the Court of Appeals threw out maps that appeared specifically redrawn to benefit Democrats — and hurt Republicans, the so-called “Hochulmander” named after Gov. Kathy Hochul.
A court-ordered master then drew more “competitive” maps and the Republicans picked up 4 seats in the midterm elections in New York, helping the GOP reclaim majority control of the House of Representatives.
But another lawsuit subsequently filed by Democrats and now the Court of Appeals — who have a different chief judge and one new member — will soon decide whether to uphold current maps for the remainder of the decade or throw them out and potentially give Democrats another shot to draw maps for the House seats to give them an edge in the 2024 elections.
“The Court of Appeals should rule on the merits,” ex-Long Island Congressman and 2022 GOP gubernatorial nominee Lee Zeldin said at a City Hall Park press conference Monday. “The Court of Appeals should not allow its institution to be abused and should keep the current maps in place.”
Zeldin was joined by GOP Reps. Nicole Malliotakis and Michael Lawler, state Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar, Bobbie Anne Cox, director of Stop NY Corruption; and GOP Minority Council leader Joe Borelli and Queens Councilman Robert Holden, a Democrat with the moderate Common Sense Caucus.
“The political elites in Albany want to ignore our constitution for their own political gain and it’s completely unacceptable,” Cox said. “The constitution was written to keep the politicians in check….not to keep the people in check.”
But Democrats are hoping the new makeup of the high court will work in their favor.
Chief Judge Janet DiFiorie wrote the 4-3 decision last year, but has since stepped down. She was replaced with Associate Judge Rowan Wilson, who wrote the dissent.
The newest jurist on the bench, Judge Caitlin Halligan, recused herself from the most recent redistricting case, offering little detail other than that she had a previous relationship with one of the parties or lawyers involved.
After Halligan announced her recusal, Wilson made the unusual move of tapping a lower court judge to fill her role. Previously, judges wouldn’t be brought up as fill-ins unless the court couldn’t meet its five-person quorum.
First Judicial Department Presiding Judge Dianne Renwick sat along with the rest of the court and heard oral arguments in the case last month. The judges are scheduled to meet in a closed-door conference Tuesday and are expected to release a decision in the landmark case any day.