A New York judge has ruled that Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis’ Staten Island-based congressional district unconstitutionally discriminates against minority voters, potentially opening the door to Democrats grabbing the seat.
State Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Pearlman ordered the state’s independent redistricting commission to draw a new map by Feb. 6, which would allow it be used in this year’s midterm elections.
Republicans plan to appeal the ruling and it’s likely to wind up being decided by the Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court.
The new map would be expected to connect Staten Island to a portion of deep-blue lower Manhattan instead of its current makeup including a slice of GOP friendly south Brooklyn. That would flip the district from a strongly Republican leaning one to a Democratic-leaning one.
Pearlman agreed with several voters who claimed that Staten Island’s history of racially polarized voting made it impossible for Black and Latino voters to elect a candidate of their choice.
Malliotakis was a strong favorite to win reelection to the seat under the old map. But a Democratic challenger would potentially be favored to win under new district lines.
The new map could also shake up the contentious Democratic primary between Rep. Dan Goldman and ex-controller Brad Lander in the neighboring NY-10 district spanning lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Goldman might jump over to challenge Malliotakis instead of mounting a tricky defense against Lander, who could pick up more favorable political turf in the new map.
The decision marks a potential victory for national Democrats in the mid-decade redistricting battle that President Trump launched last year.
Texas Republicans started the battle by enacting new maps that they hope will flip up to five Democratic seats. California countered by voting for a new map to turn five Republican seats blue.
Other states from coast to coast are jumping into the fray, with most analysts predicting little advantage to either party.
The political stakes are enormous because Republicans hold only a narrow five-seat majority in the House of Representatives.
Democrats hope to retake the chamber in the midterms, which would give them a check on Trump’s aggressive second-term agenda.
