Democracy is in peril. Donald Trump is determined to crush opposition, and Texas Republicans are backing him up. Gov. Greg Abbott has signed new maps to redraw congressional lines and capture up to five new GOP House seats in the 2026 midterms — potentially consolidating long-term GOP control. Other Republican states may follow Texas’ while Trump’s hand-picked Supreme Court majority further guts the Voting Rights Act.
“This is a war,” said Gov. Hochul. And New York should treat these actions as dangerous attacks on our political freedoms and match the intensity of Trump’s moves with a fiery redistricting push of our own. Unfortunately Albany’s leaders have thrown in the towel claiming any changes must wait until 2028. But they can act now.
Here’s how.
New York’s Constitution blocks redistricting until after the 2030 census, but there’s a path to do so, and it runs through the courts. Our Constitution explicitly allows new maps if a court orders them, which is precisely what happened in the 2024 cycle. The highest court in New York found the 2022 process unconstitutional and ordered new maps. Similarly, a plaintiff could sue now to determine if the current maps violate the constitutional criteria for fairness; if they do, the court could order new maps in time for the 2026 election cycle.
Predictably Albany will say odds are low or that litigation could be expensive. But this logic is backwards and is why Democratic voters are so angry. Sure the odds may not be high, but we know that doing nothing is the worst option of all — and permits Trump to steamroll us yet again. Republicans aren’t shy about the risk of litigation — and we shouldn’t be either. As a lawyer who has followed these cases for years, I know you can never predict the twists and turns of litigation.
I believe deeply in process and norms. But clinging to outdated ideals about how politics should work amounts to unilateral disarmament. Even Hochul said, “That era is over — Donald Trump eliminated it forever.”
State Sen. Mike Gianaris and Assemblyman Micah Lasher have introduced a constitutional amendment to permit future off-cycle redraws. But that fix couldn’t take effect until 2028 at the earliest, and by then Texas Republicans and other red states will have done irreparable harm. Just a few new GOP wins could secure House control.
So we can’t delay. We must protect New Yorkers, and Americans, against a GOP whose first priority is preserving its own untrammeled political power — shoving the American people out of the way and handing the country over to its corporate patrons to be stripped of its wealth.
If the president and congressional GOP are going to lock Democrats out of policymaking, we need to make that choice expensive for them. Texas has been weaponizing state laws to punish climate investment for years; we can play that game, too. Enormous blue state economies can use our pension funds far more aggressively to counter moves from states like Texas. We can also induce doctors and nurses to move to our hospitals and clinics, where they won’t be threatened with arrest for providing medical care.
Hochul understands the stakes: “I’m tired of fighting this fight with my hand tied behind my back,” vowing to help New York lead the counteroffensive.
This is our moment to send a hopeful message to other blue states: that there is a limit to how much manipulation we will tolerate from autocrats who aim to bend democracy to their will. That anti-democratic power grabs will be matched by a fierce defense of the public will. And that Republicans aren’t the only ones who know how to go to court, and fight — and win.
Inaction — or worse, moralizing about restraint — would let Republicans dictate the terms of play. You won’t see restraint from Abbott and his henchmen, who immediately moved to have Democratic legislators arrested and fined for not playing along with his power grab.
When Republicans shatter long-held norms, we must show we’re capable of fighting back — not grudgingly, not reactively, but proactively and with all the force we can muster. If we believe the will of the voters matters at all, Democrats must move aggressively right now to ensure that GOP partisans can’t permanently disenfranchise half the country — and the path to protecting democracy runs through New York.
Let’s go to court.
Goyle is the chair of the 5Boro Institute at Citizens Union, founder of Phone Free NY, and an attorney in NYC. The views expressed are his own.
