New congressional map adopted in N.Y, a state central to deciding control of House

Lawmakers in the Democratic-led New York legislature approved a new congressional map Wednesday with slight adjustments made to the boundaries of a few districts after earlier this week rejecting a map drawn by an independent commission.

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced on social media later Wednesday that she had signed the new map into law.

The new map comes ahead of the June primaries in a state that is expected to play a crucial role in determining which party will win control of the House. In 2022, the GOP flipped enough seats to wrest control of the chamber back from Democrats.

The New York Republican Party said Wednesday evening that it would not contest the new map in court.

“Our victory in the Harkenrider case led to fair lines,” Ed Cox, the state’s GOP chairman, said in a statement. “Despite Democrats’ ongoing corruption of the process, these lines are not materially different from those drawn by the special master. As such, there is no need for further litigation.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) hailed the new map as “bipartisan” and said in a statement that it “reunites several communities of interest, reduces the number of counties, towns and villages that are split and promotes compact congressional districts.”

One notable change on the new map is moving the boundary of the 16th Congressional District, represented by Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D), further south to include the heavily Democratic area of Co-Op City in the Bronx. Bowman is a member of the group of liberal lawmakers known as “the Squad” and is facing a primary challenge from Westchester County Executive George Latimer.

Another change comes to the 3rd Congressional District, a seat that Democrat Tom Suozzi won two weeks ago in a special election to replace George Santos, who was expelled late last year. Under the new map, the district will extend further east to include a portion of Suffolk County. And Upstate New York’s 22nd Congressional District, which Rep. Brandon Williams (R) narrowly won in 2022, will see its boundaries extend southwest.

Colby Itkowitz and Patrick Svitek contributed to this report.