New York Assembly map upheld for 2022 elections, faring better than congressional map

A New York judge on Wednesday rejected a last-minute challenge to the state’s new Assembly maps, allowing them to remain in place for this year’s primary elections, after he struck down the congressional maps earlier this spring.

Justice Patrick McAllister of Steuben County Supreme Court said he believed the Assembly maps were created in an unconstitutional manner by Democrats in the Legislature, but cited in his decision a lack of time before the primary, and bipartisan opposition to motion.

McAllister, whose high-stakes decision to trash the congressional map was upheld last month by the state’s highest court, emphasized in his five-page decision on Wednesday that the Assembly maps were not initially challenged in the case.

He wrote that new challenges against the Assembly maps were “untimely” and that a decision striking down the map “would be extremely burdensome to the court and existing parties.”

A pair of motions challenging the Assembly maps did not arrive until the start of this month, less than two months before Primary Day for the Assembly.

Republicans in the chamber united with Democrats in opposition to late changes to the maps.

The ruling sets the stage for Assembly primaries to take place as planned on June 28, though elections for Congress and the state Senate have been postponed to August to make time for a redraw of the respective state maps.

The ruling Democrats in the state Legislature drew new congressional and legislative maps this winter after a bipartisan commission created for the once-a-decade redistricting failed to reach a consensus and gave up.

The parties who intervened in the case with hopes of scrapping the Assembly maps could still appeal. But it was not clear if they would.

Aaron Foldenauer, a lawyer representing one of the so-called intervenors, said he was “looking at all of our options” but had not determined a course of action.

“This was delay by design: the state Assembly waited until the last minute to break the law,” Foldenauer said. “Now, we’re in a situation where there are unconstitutional lines, and the court feels it can’t remedy the issue.”

In the case, Foldenauer represented Gavin Wax, president of the New York Young Republican Club.

Jeff Wice, a professor at New York Law School who studies redistricting, said he still believes the Assembly maps are fair and “balanced.”

“The Assembly maps were passed on a bipartisan vote,” Wice said Wednesday. “The changes mostly represented population changes and the need for population equality among the districts.”

The Assembly maps drew little scrutiny in comparison to the House chart. The congressional map was widely viewed as crafted to help Democrats, putting their party in an advantage in 22 of 26 New York districts.

Gov. Hochul, a Democrat, signed the map into law on Feb. 3, over howls of rage from the GOP.

The new map was seen as a likely boon to the national Democratic Party as it heads into a midterm election thought to favor Republicans, who have been locked out of power on Capitol Hill since 2020.

But McAllister tossed the congressional map at the end of March, dealing a blow to Democrats.

The State Court of Appeals, made up of 7 appointees of Democratic governors, concurred with McAllister’s judgement almost a month later, surprising some observers and scrambling the state’s political calendar.

The congressional and Senate primary elections are now scheduled for Aug. 23; the contours of districts in those races remain in limbo.

A court-appointed special master, Jonathan Cervas, has a May 24 deadline to craft new maps.