Democrats in New York are set to lose a longtime Congressional leader after two top insiders have been drawn into an interparty battle under new redistricting maps.
Democrats will struggle in their quest to maintain control of the U.S. House in the November election amid President Joe Biden’s flagging poll numbers, skyrocketing inflation and gas prices, and a spiraling crisis at the U.S. southern border.
Now, a looming battle between leading U.S. Reps. Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney will be an open battle for the newly drawn 10th Congressional District that extends from Manhattan’s Greenwich Village to Brooklyn’s Borough Park — a showdown between Democratic incumbents that have both been in office for nearly three decades.
And neither one is backing down.
“I am proud to announce that I will be running to continue to represent the 12th Congressional District. A majority of the communities in the newly redrawn NY-12 are ones I have represented for years and to which I have deep ties,” Maloney said in a statement.
I am proud to announce that I will be running to continue to represent the 12th Congressional District. A majority of the communities in the newly redrawn NY-12 are ones I have represented for years and to which I have deep ties #NY12 #TeamMaloney
— Carolyn B. Maloney (@CarolynBMaloney) May 16, 2022
“I believe these newly proposed lines by the special master violate the NYS constitutional requirements of keeping communities of interest of keeping communities of interest together and keeping the cores of existing districts largely intact,” Nadler said in his own statement.
“However, provided that they become permanent, I very much look forward to running in and representing the people of the newly created 12th District of New York.”
Under the redistricting process that occurs every 10 years, New York is set to lose one of its 27 congressional districts, eight of which Republicans currently hold.
The Democratic-drawn maps would have given their party a strong majority in 22 of 26 congressional districts, but were rejected by a judge. The new lines approved by the court create five Republican-leaning districts, up from four, and at least four other districts where Republicans would be competitive.
Republican leaders praised the final maps and said Democrats’ efforts to gerrymander maps will hurt them in November’s elections — notably by ousting at least one of their longtime leaders.
The maps will be in place starting with this year’s midterm elections and include a New York City Congressional district centered on Staten Island that would be more favorable to Republicans.
New York is among a number of states that have seen continuing legal battles over its decennial redistricting process, but one of the few states where Democrats, instead of Republicans, were accused of drawing maps in their favor.
New York’s redistricting process was originally expected to be conducted by an independent commission as part of a process approved by voters in 2014. But the commission couldn’t agree on a set of maps and the Democratically-controlled Legislature took up the task instead, creating maps that were signed by Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul.
A court threw out the maps for the state’s congressional districts and for its state Senate races.
The new maps have not yet been finalized. Drawn by Carnegie Mellon fellow Jonathan Cervas, the proposal is currently open to public comment before they would be finalized Friday.
The Horn editorial team and the Associated Press contributed to this article