“This is going to be an interesting, groundbreaking suit,” says Michael Li of the Brennan Center. “The provisions that Republicans are suing under were new to the New York constitution. They were added in 2014 by voters and they are so far untested.”
Republicans wasted no time filing a legal challenge Thursday to New York’s new congressional seats, which the state Legislature’s Democratic majorities approved on Wednesday after drawing them inThe legal challenge marks the state Republican Party’s official attempt to beat back the Democrat-drawn lines, according to party spokesperson Jessica Proud. It was crafted with support from theAnd it is expected to set an important precedent, potentially for decades to come.
The lawsuit is expected to soon be updated to include challenges to new state Senate and Assembly district lines, as well. Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul signed all the district lines into law late Thursday.“We are 100% confident that the lines are in compliance with all legal requirements,” said Mike Murphy, a spokesman for state Senate Democrats.
“The Democratic Caucus of the IRC decided not to submit a compromise congressional map within the constitutional timeframes after receiving encouragement to undermine the constitutional process from Democratic Party politicians and officials,” the lawsuit claims.The GOP’s second main argument is based on a claim of gerrymandering – district maps drawn in a way meant to benefit a particular person or party.
“Districts shall not be drawn to discourage competition or for the purpose of favoring or disfavoring incumbents or other particular candidates or political parties,” the constitution now reads. The lawsuit asks Steuben County Supreme Court Justice Patrick McAllister to toss the maps and have new ones drawn. That’s similar to what happened in 2012, when the Republicans who controlled the Senate at the time and the Democrats who controlled the Assembly couldn’t reach an agreement and a court appointed a special master to draw lines.Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, a Democrat representing Queens, said he and his party followed the rules when drawing the maps.
And the clock is ticking: Ballot petitioning for the June 28th primary is scheduled to begin March 1st. And mail-in ballots listing the names of candidates have to be finalized by mid-April.
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