New York Democrats Amplify Their Push For 2028 Redistricting

ALBANY, New York — New York Democrats doubled down on their push to join the national battles over redistricting Tuesday, with Rep. Joe Morelle paying a visit to the Capitol as Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ ambassador to state leaders.

“The voters now understand that this is in some ways an existential threat to the republic,” Morelle said after meeting with Gov. Kathy Hochul.

New York Democrats have had plans since last summer to take the first vote on a state constitutional amendment before the Legislature adjourns in June, which would allow for a 2027 referendum that opens the door to new lines in time for 2028.

The focus on that amendment has heightened as that initial vote looms — and particularly in the wake of last week’s Supreme Court decision gutting the Voting Rights Act that will allow Republican states to start eliminating Democratic-held districts with Black majorities.

Democrats in Albany and other state Capitols are taking a more aggressive approach in the wake of that decision. The amendment introduced last July would have allowed for some pre-2028 tweaks to the redistricting process. But there’s now increased chatter about also stripping the state’s anti-gerrymandering rules and changing the way the 2032 process will work.

“The world has changed dramatically since that bill was introduced,” Senate Deputy Leader Mike Gianaris said.

Hochul — who has no official role in the passage of an amendment — has openly embraced a full-fledged gerrymander since August, a stance she reiterated before meeting with Morelle.

"I don't feel like I should be handcuffed in a fight for our democracy,” the governor said. “I'll not be handicapped in that fight."

New York’s congressional delegation is currently comprised of 19 Democrats and seven Republicans.

A relatively aggressive redrawing of maps could help shrink the GOP delegation to three. One plausible scenario: significant shifts to the left in one of the two GOP-controlled Long Island seats, the Staten Island district currently held by Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, GOP Rep. Mike Lawler’s Hudson Valley seat, and one of the three upstate Republican districts.

Morelle served as the majority leader in the state Assembly until 2018, and still enjoys warm ties with top state leaders. He’s now part of Jeffries’ “New York Democracy Project,” which will help promote the amendment in advance of the expected 2027 referendum.

Democrats in New York proposed less dramatic changes to the constitutional language on redistricting earlier this decade, but those were voted down in 2021 after the party failed to invest significant resources into the campaign and was blindsided by a late surge in spending from the Conservative Party. Had the vote passed, the lines approved in 2022 could have been more advantageous to Democrats than those currently on the books.

The national party, however, has been more involved in state-level efforts since then, recently spending $38 million on a similar successful effort in Virginia.

“The resource allocation is something we’ll talk about,” Morelle said when asked what to expect in New York. “We’re prepared to wage a vigorous campaign.”

The congressperson, notably, was in the Assembly in 2012 and voted for then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s constitutional language that’s currently tying the hands of New York Democrats by banning mid-decade changes and restricting gerrymandering.

“I voted for independent redistricting,” Morelle said. “I believe in independent redistricting. I just don’t believe in it for some of the states but not all of the states.”