A Democratic law firm is challenging New York’s congressional map, the first step in a process that could allow the state’s lawmakers to draw new lines in a national mid-decade redistricting arms race.
The Marc Elias Group filed a lawsuit Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court alleging that Black and Latino voters on Staten Island are unfairly marginalized by the current map. Attorney Marc Elias has brought cases for Democrats across the country on election and redistricting cases.
The plaintiffs say the 11th District — which includes Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn and is represented by Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican — should be redrawn to include parts of Lower Manhattan. That would increase the number of non-white voters in the district and potentially amplify their political power.
“CD-11’s antiquated boundaries instead confine Staten Island’s growing Black and Latino communities in a district where they are routinely and systematically unable to influence elections for their representative of choice, despite the existence of strong racially polarized voting and a history of racial discrimination and segregation on Staten Island,” the suit claims.
A spokesperson for Malliotakis didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment. Rep. Dan Goldman, a Democrat who represents lower Manhattan, said in a statement that “if Staten Island is drawn into my district, then I will be ready to step up and take the fight for democracy and a Democratic House majority to Nicole Malliotakis’ doorstep."
The suit could provide Democrats who control state government a chance to change the state map as early as 2026 if it succeeds. Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she wishes to do so in response to Republican-led efforts in Texas and North Carolina to draw maps more favorable to their party. Hochul accuses Republicans of cheating to keep control of Congress. She has said she wants to “fight fire with fire.”
While other Democrat-led states like California have responded in kind, New York’s state constitution doesn’t allow for mid-decade redistricting. State Sen. Mike Gianaris, a Democrat from Queens, is hoping to change the state constitution to allow for adjustments.
Gianaris said he hadn’t reviewed the lawsuit but hopes New York can join the national conversation.
“We obviously have to get engaged and not sit on the sidelines,” he said. “While red states are bastardizing the makeup of Congress, we can't allow one side to be engaging in this process without a response.”
Republicans said the lawsuit is frivolous. An earlier GOP-backed lawsuit successfully challenged Democrat-drawn maps in 2022, and the state’s current congressional lines were largely drawn by a court-appointed special master.
“This latest lawsuit, brought by the same lawyers who previously defended the unconstitutional state gerrymander in 2022, is seeking a blatant racial gerrymander,” NYGOP Chairman Ed Cox said in a statement. “Everyone should see this effort for what it is: a naked attempt to disenfranchise voters in NY-11 and elect a Democrat to this congressional district contrary to the will of voters.”
The plaintiffs in the case are four voters — a Black man, a white woman, a Latino man and a Latino woman — who live in Staten Island and Manhattan.
The defendants in the lawsuit are Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins as well as the state Board of Elections. Spokespeople for Heastie and the Board of Elections didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment. Stewart-Cousins’ spokesperson said she would review the suit and spokespeople for Hochul and James declined to comment.
