Judge Patrick McAllister last week did the right thing by rejecting New York’s blatantly gerrymandered new congressional and legislative maps and ordering the Legislature to draw new ones that win support from both political parties.
Since the Democrats ‘ maps illegally disenfranchise GOP voters, despite the clear intent of the state Constitution as expressly amended by the voters, he’ll order an independent special master to do maps for this year’s elections (at least) if the Legislature’s Dem majorities can’t come up with districts that pass the sniff test by April 11.
But Dems are digging in. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James issued a terse-but-scandalous joint response to the ruling: “We intend to appeal this decision.”
In other words, they’re both more interested in currying favor with the party hacks who see a chance to lock in permanent Dem dominance than with basic fairness and the public’s will.
The Democrats’ maps aim to slice New York’s GOP seats in the House of Representatives from eight to four, handing Dems 22 safe seats. It similarly limits Republicans to 15 of 63 state Senate seats. (McAllister tossed the map for Assembly districts because the whole process was so blatantly tainted.)
Defending this horror means Hochul owns it: “It’s not just a gerrymander, we’re calling it a Hochulmander,” said state Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy, noting the gov is now “directly responsible.”
Hochul & Co. hope the state appellate courts, utterly dominated by Democratic appointees, will meekly deny the obvious and protect the obscene power grab. If so, expect public-interest lawyers to take the case to the federal courts, likely delaying this year’s primaries.
This abomination must not stand, and it’s a huge black mark against Hochul that she’s trying to save it.