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new york, new map

New congressional map upends 2022 plans for New York politicians

The new map, created after a judge ruled the prior map unconstitutional, will pit some longtime legislators in member-on-member primaries

Nicole Malliotakis (courtesy) and Rep. Max Rose (D-NY) Photo: Kathy Willens/AP

In the hours following the release of a draft of a new congressional map created by a court-appointed special master, candidates and current members of Congress began to announce if — and where — they intend to run. The primary, originally scheduled for June, was pushed to August following a decision by a state Supreme Court judge that the original map, which gave Democrats a 22-4 advantage, was unconstitutional.

The map proposed today by Carnegie Mellon’s Jonathan Cervas still needs to be signed off on by Judge Patrick McAllister, who ruled the initial maps unconstitutional. McAllister is expected to sign off on the new map by Friday. The new map would likely set up 16 safe Democratic seats, five safe Republican seats and five competitive seats. Veteran Democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf described Monday as “the best day in New York State [that] Republicans have had for quite some time.”

Will Max Rose mount a comeback? In the original map, New York Democrats had drawn the 11th District to give former Rep. Max Rose (D-NY) a stronger chance of regaining his seat, which has been largely wiped out in the newly drawn map. The new Staten Island district leans slightly toward Republicans and favors Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY). “It can swing the other way, but it’s a tough climb,” New York Democratic strategist Ross Wallenstein told JI.

New map, new faces? The new 10th Congressional district is essentially a new district, with parts of southern Manhattan and Brooklyn, including Boro Park and a variety of diverse communities. The district opens up opportunities for a range of New York state and city elected officials to potentially mount congressional bids.

Who will represent Manhattan? In the 12th District, Democratic Reps. Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney, who have served in Congress from 1992 and 1993, respectively, will face off in the newly drawn district representing Manhattan. “It’s very unfortunate for the city and for the state in terms of representation in Washington and certainly unfortunate for the caucus,” Dilemani said. If Nadler loses, it could mark the first time in more than a century that New York City has no Jewish member of Congress, New York Democratic strategist Stu Loeser noted.

Riverdale remains with Ritchie: In the new map, Riverdale moves from the state’s 16th district to the 15th, which is represented by Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY). An earlier map — rejected by the courts — also had Riverdale in Torres’ district, which was drawn to expand northward. Earlier this year, Torres said the addition of Riverdale to his district felt “like a marriage made in heaven.”

What is happening in Westchester? Freshman Democratic Reps. Jamaal Bowman and Mondaire Jones could square off in the new 16th district. Jones represents much of the new 17th District, but lives in White Plains, in the 16th. Jones has not yet announced a decision on the matter. Meanwhile, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair, announced shortly after the release of the new map that he will run in the state’s 17th District, forcing Jones to pick between running against Maloney or Bowman. “Sean Patrick Maloney did not even give me a heads up before he went on Twitter to make that announcement. And I think that tells you everything you need [to] know about Sean Patrick Maloney,” Jones told Politico Monday evening.

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