Huge Ruling in New York Rains Fire and Brimstone on Democrat Redistricting Hopes

A timely ruling today out of New York has solidified GOP redistricting gains after the state’s appeals court sided with Republicans to strike down a Democrat gerrymander that ignored state law.

I say timely, because just hours before this piece, I published an article noting that the GOP had turned the tables after months of Democrat celebration regarding redistricting. Contrary to earlier proclamations that Democrats had gained 5-6 seats in the process, Republicans have essentially won the war.

Still, as I mentioned, there was one last battle going on in the form of this appeal out of New York, which was happening after another ruling in late March put Republicans back on the offensive. Now, Republicans have secured it, and the implications are big.

They also say that new maps should be enacted *this year* pic.twitter.com/n5XAyWaEP4

— Benjamin Rosenblatt (@BenJ_Rosenblatt) April 27, 2022

There are three big things in this ruling, and they all help Republicans as we head into the November midterms.

First, is the fact that the Democrat gerrymander got struck down at all. That wasn’t expected, and has put Republicans in the money. Secondly, the court ordered that a new map be implemented this year. That differs from some other states that determined they had run out of time, and that gerrymanders would stand for 2022. Thirdly, the heavily Democrat New York legislature will not get to draw the map. Rather, a court-appointed figure will do so based on the state’s fair districting provisions.

Put all that together and you could be talking about a swing of several districts towards the GOP in one of the bluest states in the union. That means that far from Democrats “winning” redistricting, Republicans could now walk away with a 3-5 seat advantage before the first vote is cast. Can you say “red wave”?

As far as I can tell, there is nothing left out there for Democrats to do in order to gain ground. All the pending redistricting cases have either been settled or will not be a factor until 2024. What an incredible turnaround for the GOP over just the last month. Full speed ahead to November.