New York’s Map Drama Could Make Hakeem Jeffries House Speaker

Democrats in Albany try everything they can to replace fair districts with gerrymandered ones.

By John Faso

A radical effort by state and national Democrats to undermine New York’s democracy is flying under the radar. While many on the political left rail against real and imagined “threats to democracy,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is attempting to get New York courts to order a redraft of the state’s congressional districts. This would give Democrats an advantage in the 2024 elections and potentially make Mr. Jeffries speaker.

In 2014, New York voters passed a constitutional amendment strictly limiting both partisan gerrymandering and the Legislature’s power over redistricting. Mr. Jeffries and state Democrats were stung last year when the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, rejected a congressional redistricting scheme enacted by the Legislature. In Harkenrider v. Hochul the court found the plan unconstitutional on two grounds. First, it was a partisan gerrymander that was illegally crafted to aid Democrats and disadvantage Republicans. Second, the plan was enacted contrary to the express procedure prescribed by the amendment.

The amendment limited the Legislature’s power through the creation of an Independent Redistricting Commission, a 10-member body charged with drafting legislative and congressional districts. The commission was to submit a plan to the Legislature, which could accept or reject but not amend it. If lawmakers rejected the initial proposal, the commission could submit a second plan. Only after the Legislature rejected that plan could lawmakers enact their own plan.

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