Years after handing redistricting power over to an independent commission, New York Democrats want it back as they join the national map-drawing battle with an eye on the 2028 election.
The Democratic-led state Legislature on Wednesday night took its first step toward passing a constitutional amendment that would give lawmakers more authority on redistricting. Legislators must pass the amendment again next year before going to voters for final approval.
If the amendment clears these hurdles, New York lawmakers could draw a new map with as many as four new Democratic-leaning seats ahead of the 2028 elections.
In 2014, New York voters approved a constitutional amendment that created a bipartisan redistricting commission in the state. But the commission’s first attempt to draw new congressional lines following the 2021 census fell flat as Democratic legislators’ pursuit of partisan advantage eventually led to litigation and a court-ordered map.
The proposed amendment would not eliminate the commission but would give lawmakers much of their power over the map-drawing process back.
“The state redistricting commission would still be in business, but their task would be limited to holding public hearings, receiving input and submitting one set of maps or multiple maps if they can’t agree to the Legislature,” said Jeff Wice, a redistricting expert and professor at New York Law School. “If that map or set of maps are rejected, then the Legislature can essentially do whatever it decides.”
The amendment would also authorize mid-decade redistricting, noncompact districts and partisan gerrymandering, giving Democrats some significant tools. New maps would be approved by a majority vote in the Legislature, with the governor’s signature.
Unlike the two other redistricting amendments Democrats in California and Virginia advanced over the past year, New York’s proposal is permanent: The majority party would be able to gerrymander for decades to come.
New York Democrats have defended the amendment by pointing to the mid-decade redistricting that has occurred in other states ahead of the 2026 elections. Ten states, primarily Republican-led, have implemented new congressional maps since last summer.
“We think that all of those aggressive redistricting actions by these other states required a response from New York,” state Sen. Michael Gianaris, a Democrat who authored the bill, said. “We are playing a game that we’re not playing alone, and so if the other participants in this process are playing by a different set of rules, to not be able to respond in kind would be irresponsible.”
Republicans pushed back, arguing that dramatically limiting the redistricting commission’s power was a negative for the state.
“Do we not have a responsibility, Senator, to make sure that these maps in New York are not gerrymandered and that the voters have a right to choose their representatives and not vice versa?” GOP state Sen. Jack Martins asked.
