NY: Constitutional amendment to permit mid-decade redistricting would still prohibit partisan gerrymandering [View all]

New York Democrats want to fight fire with fire if another state like Texas tries to bulk up Republicans’ House numbers by redrawing congressional district lines in the middle of a decade. But they still want to appear like they have the moral high ground by officially prohibiting that very same partisan gerrymandering.

State Sen. Michael Gianaris and Assembly Member Micah Lasher formally introduced a proposed state constitutional amendment on Wednesday that would allow the state Legislature to engage in off-year redistricting if another state moves to do it first.

Notably, the proposal would keep the five criteria that currently govern the drawing of district lines meant to maintain fairness. That includes an explicit prohibition on partisan redistricting: “Districts shall not be drawn to discourage competition or for the purpose of favoring or disfavoring incumbents or other particular candidates or political parties.”

That might seem counterproductive if the goal is to counterbalance other states’ GOP-friendly partisan gerrymandering, but Gianaris doesn’t see it that way. “We don't need to sacrifice our principles to do our work,” he told City & State. “We can come up with lines that comply with constitutional criteria that still accomplish our goal.” Gianaris implied that following the other criteria, which include racial equity and maintaining communities of interest, would still result in maps inherently favorable to Democrats, without that being the explicit goal.


https://www.cityandstateny.com/politics/2025/07/constitutional-amendment-permit-mid-decade-redistricting-would-still-prohibit-partisan-gerrymandering/407120/?oref=csny-category-lander-top-story