House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is eyeing New York as Democrats’ next redistricting frontier as the caucus looks to gain ground after Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-FL) GOP map win in Florida.
Jeffries announced on Monday that he is asking state Rep. Joe Morelle to take up the redistricting torch in the Empire State, asking him, “to travel to Albany to meet with State leaders” on Tuesday about redistricting “in response to the Callais decision and the recent action in Florida.”
Democrats have taken two major hits in the national redistricting wars since their win in the Virginia referendum, in which voters approved a congressional map with a 10-1 Democratic advantage in late April. But the Virginia outcome poured fuel on the redistricting fire, pushing DeSantis to sign a map that could net Republicans four more seats in Florida. The Supreme Court also dealt Southern Democrats a blow in Louisiana v. Callais, striking down race-based redistricting.
But Jeffries and Morelle announced jointly on Monday that Democrats plan to keep the ball rolling with the national gerrymandering fight, starting next with “The New York Democracy Project.”
“This is just the beginning. Across the nation, we will sue, we will redraw and we will win. House Democrats will not allow a MAGA majority to be built on rigged maps and the dilution of Black voting strength. Ultimately, this will end poorly for Republican extremists,” Jeffries said in a statement.
Morelle said he is “proud to be entrusted by Leader Jeffries to work with partners in New York to explore every option to protect voters in 2026, 2028, and beyond.”
New York Democrats already pushed to redistrict the state in 2025, seeking to redraw the state’s GOP-held 11th district encompassing Staten Island. After Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) fought back against the Democratic push, the Supreme Court granted Malliotakis’s emergency petition for a stay on a state court’s ruling that the map would have to be redrawn before the 2026 midterm elections. This Supreme Court ruling left the 11th district intact and squashed the 2025 Democratic effort to redraw.
But Jeffries’s announcement on Monday marks a new Democratic push for redistricting in the Empire State. The announcement said Morelle will ask Albany leaders to, in part, consider amending the state constitution to allow mid-decade redistricting, in line with a proposal from state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris that could allow new maps by the 2028 elections.
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) voiced support for redistricting the Empire State on Saturday, saying “it’s time to fight fire with fire.”
New York Republicans have slammed Hochul over redistricting, pointing to the times New Yorkers have voted to support independent redistricting.
“Albany Democrats will scheme behind closed doors to gerrymander Congressional district maps that ignores the law and benefits them politically. Voters have twice supported independent redistricting, and they’ll do it again,” state Senate GOP leader Rob Ortt said in a statement.
Malliotakis also bashed Hochul’s rhetorical support for fair maps on X last week.
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“You have tried to politically gerrymander my district 3X since 2022 and FAILED. You are the LAST person who should talk about fair maps,” Malliotakis said.
Morelle will meet with Hochul, state Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Gianaris on Tuesday.