The New Republic: New York’s Redistricting Has Caused a “Trainwreck Of Democrats’ Own Creation”

A newly-drawn congressional map in New York is roiling Democratic politics in the state and nationwide, as lawmakers have been suddenly pitted against each other in districts that some argue disenfranchise certain voters. The map has far-reaching implications for Democrats’ already Sisyphean task of maintaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives, as it will likely wipe out potential Democratic gains that were balanced against redistricting moves benefiting Republicans in other states.

Campaigns in New York were thrown into chaos last month, when the state Court of Appeals ruled that Democratic lawmakers had violated the state constitution by drawing new congressional and state Senate districts that disproportionately benefited Democrats. Voters adopted an amendment to the state constitution in 2014 to limit partisanship in the redistricting process. However, the independent redistricting commission compelled by the amendment broke down amid partisan spats earlier this year, allowing the Democratic super-majorities in both chambers to push through a map gerrymandered in favor of their party. So where Republican efforts to gerrymander districts in their favor have largely succeeded in red states, the Democratic attempt to play hardball in New York just resulted in the ball flying back and smacking them in the face. …

Sunset Park, a neighborhood in Brooklyn that was previously divided between the districts of Representative Jerry Nadler and Representative Nydia Velazquez. Sunset Park has significant Asian and Hispanic populations, Lerner argued, so it made sense for part of the neighborhood to belong to Nadler’s district, which includes Chinatown in Manhattan, and part to Velazquez’s district, which has a plurality Hispanic population. But under the special master’s initial map, the entirety of Sunset Park had been drawn into a new district with Staten Island, with smaller Hispanic and Asian populations. Cervas’ initial map therefore “significantly diminished their voice within the district,” said Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York, an advocacy group which opposed the new map.

“The current maps are often pointed to, ‘Oh, look how terrible they are.’ But they are drafted to give specific communities a fair chance to choose their own representatives,” Lerner said. She noted that a special master appointed by a federal court had drawn the previous congressional map, and said that he had taken these demographic factors into account. …

“People do not live, work and play in neat lines and boxes. So if you’re actually going to reflect the lived reality of communities, your lines are not going to be as pretty, but they will be realistic,” Lerner told The New Republic.