Democratic lawmakers in New York on Wednesday passed legislation to redraw the state’s congressional maps in a move that gives new meaning to word the “gerrymander” — based on the way Rep. Jerry Nadler’s district got carved up.
“I’ve been Jerrymandered!” said state Conservative Party Chairman Gerry Kassar, whose Brooklyn home would lie within Nadler’s new district.
Under the plan, Democrat Nadler’s 10th Congressional District would absorb conservative-leaning neighborhoods in southern Brooklyn, including Dyker Heights and Bath Beach, that are now represented by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island, Brooklyn).
But those voters would be powerless to oust Nadler, based on the overwhelming support the veteran Democrat enjoys in Manhattan, where his meandering, S-shaped district ranges from the Upper West Side to Battery Park City.
Meanwhile, Malliotakis’ 11th CD would gain the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Sunset Park, Gowanus and Park Slope — some of the most liberal in the borough — making it much harder for her to win re-election.
“This ‘Jerrymander’ is all about getting rid of Nicole Malliotakis,” Kassar summed it up.
Other changes would shift the boundaries of Long Island’s 1st CD — now represented by Republican Lee Zeldin, who’s running for governor — so it stretches from the suburbs outside New York City to the Hamptons and is more Democrat-friendly.
The 22nd CD narrowly won in 2020 by Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney would be eliminated due to reapportionment under the latest Census and she’d now live in a Democratic-friendly district that includes the liberal city of Ithaca, home to Cornell University and Ithaca College.
Tenney has said she will now run in the new 23rd district against an undetermined opponent.
Rep. Elise Stefanik, the No. 3 Republican in the House, remains secure in her district, which covers much of the North Country region.
Republicans now hold eight of New York’s 27 congressional seats but the proposed maps would give Democrats an edge in 22 of the 26 redrawn districts.
The plan passed the Democrat-controlled state Senate on a party-line vote of 43-20 and the Democrat-controlled Assembly by a near party-line vote of 103-45.
