GOP pushes NY’s highest court to throw out ‘Hochulmander’ congressional mapBy Zach Williams
April 26, 2022
New York’s highest court should throw out newly drawn congressional lines because they were illegally gerrymandered by Democrats in violation of the state Constitution, a Republican attorney argued at a Tuesday Court of Appeals hearing in Albany.
The so-called “Hochulmander” includes dramatic changes to the current congressional map that Republicans say reflects overly partisan efforts by Gov. Kathy Hochul and other New York Democrats to help defend their party’s slim majority in the House of Representatives despite voters’ approval of a 2014 amendment to the state Constitution barring such gerrymandering.
“[New York voters] set up the strongest language prohibiting partisan gerrymandering found in any constitution in the United States,” attorney Misha Tseytlin, an attorney for the GOP plaintiffs, argued in court Tuesday. “The process failed and there was a violation of law.”
A ruling is expected in the coming days following appeals by Democrats of the lower court decision.
It remains unclear which way the court might be leaning on the case, which would upend ongoing campaigning for Congress if the currently-approved map gets thrown out. The court could rule that a special master be put in charge of determining congressional lines or leave it to state lawmakers to approve new lines before the state Board of Elections finalizes primary ballots early next month.
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Source:
https://nypost.com/2022/04/26/gop-pushes-nys-highest-court-to-reject-hochulmander-congressional-map/
