Local lawmakers are split on New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s plans to find a way to redistrict the state, a move that could provide Democrats a political advantage in Congress.
This is in response to a similar effort in Texas – where pressure from the presidential administration has led to a proposed redistricting that would create five new Republican-leaning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“If this is the fight they want to get into, they're going to lose it,” said Assemblymember Jen Lunsford, a Democrat. “It's just going to cause an arms race where states are going to just start redistricting even more overtly politically than they do now.”
Assemblymember Josh Jensen, a Republican, said he doesn’t support redistricting until the next census.
“These overtly political redistricting battles only make people believe in the worst part of politics,” he said, adding that he didn’t support redistricting in Republican-led states, like Texas, the Carolinas, or Ohio, either.
“I think it's also going to lead to worse people being elected, because you're going to have people who don't want to get in it for the right reasons,” he said.
As for New York, Lunsford said she would support redistricting to counter the Presidential administration’s efforts.
“I think it's bad for everyone. It's bad for democracy, but it's worse to just let them run rough shot over us.”
New York's constitution doesn't allow for redistricting until the next census. Amending it is a multi-year process that requires voter approval. The earliest that could happen is for the 2028 congressional elections.
