New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Monday vowed to discover “every option” to redraw the state’s congressional maps in responses to Texas’ mid-cycle redistricting push.
“There’s a phrase – ‘you have to fight fire with fire.’ That is a true statement of how we’re feeling right now,” Hochul advised reporters alongside New York State Meeting Speaker Carl Heastie (D) and several other Texas Democrats.
“And as I’ve said, another overused but applicable phrase, ‘all’s fair in love and war.’ That’s why I’m exploring with our leaders every option to redraw our state congressional lines as soon as possible,” she continued, who famous that state legislative leaders had been “on board.”
“We’re already working on a legislative process, reviewing our legal strategies, and we’ll do everything in our power to stop this brazen assault,” she added.
Texas Democrats fled their state on Sunday to disclaim Republicans a quorum, or the minimal variety of lawmakers wanted with the intention to conduct enterprise, blocking the Home from passing a map that might provide 5 extra GOP pick-up alternatives. The present maps in Texas already given Republicans a robust partisan benefit.
A Texas Home panel had superior the maps final week, teeing up a vote on the Home flooring vote.
Texas Democrats traveled to Illinois, New York and Massachusetts, all of that are Democratic-led states. Chatting with reporters on Sunday night time, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) mentioned the state would defend Texas Democrats who’re dealing with arrest — along with incurring a day by day $500 wonderful — over breaking quorum.
New York, whose personal Home maps had been struck down by a court docket in 2022 for giving a partisan benefit to Democrats, faces a conundrum over mid-decade redistricting.
For one, the Empire State makes use of a redistricting fee to attract its maps, although they’re topic to the state legislature’s approval. A second problem is that any modification to the state structure requires it to be handed in two consecutive periods earlier than going earlier than voters, that means New York Democrats wouldn’t be capable of change their maps in time for the 2026 cycle.
Hochul acknowledged these constraints, saying “it is not the timeline that I would have preferred.”
“We’re going to also look at litigation strategies,” Hochul mentioned. “We’re in close conversations about options there, and so I would say this — we’re considering all options right now.”
Hochul notably agreed with the concept that the redistricting fee that was accepted by voters in 2014 ought to be disbanded or modified.
“I’m tired of fighting this fight with my hand tied behind my back,” she mentioned.
New York just isn’t the one Democratic-led state to discover choices over mid-cycle redistricting; California can be weighing a number of avenues over how one can in the end change its Home map. Florida is doing so, too, on the GOP aspect.
