New York State Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano is warning voters that Albany Democrats are preparing another fight over congressional redistricting, arguing that the proposal would reopen a battle New Yorkers already rejected.
“The biggest problem for next year is going to be redistricting again,” DeStefano said. “They want to change the congressional maps again. We voted against that as a state in 2021. We voted against gerrymandering.”
The Legislature approved a proposed constitutional amendment in June that would allow mid-decade redistricting and remove existing language that bars drawing districts to favor political parties or incumbents. The amendment must pass the next Legislature and then go before voters in a statewide referendum.
DeStefano said the push ignores the will of taxpayers and voters.
“They lost two to one,” he said of the 2021 ballot proposal. “Now they decided to resurrect it again because they don’t want to listen.”
New York’s redistricting process has already produced years of controversy. In 2014, voters approved changes creating an Independent Redistricting Commission. In 2021, voters rejected a proposal to change that process.
Then, in 2022, New York’s highest court threw out Democrat-drawn congressional and state Senate maps, ruling the congressional map violated the state Constitution because it was drawn with unconstitutional partisan intent. A court-appointed special master was then appointed to redraw the congressional districts.
Supporters of the new amendment argue New York should be able to respond to redistricting efforts in other states. DeStefano strongly disagrees, saying the proposal amounts to another attempt at partisan gerrymandering despite voters already rejecting similar changes.
“They don’t care,” DeStefano said. “They’re just going to do it the way they want to do it, and we have to pay the price for it if it does happen.”
For DeStefano, the referendum will give New Yorkers another opportunity to decide whether congressional districts should remain insulated from partisan politics or whether Albany lawmakers should once again have greater authority to redraw the state’s political map.