Democrats cut NY’s House delegation by half in new redistricting plan

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More On: republicans GOP senator vows to block Biden’s DOJ picks over fallout from Portland protests NY redistricting shows Dems don’t care about voter rights, only consolidating power Black GOP candidates raking in big money With secrets, lies and cries of ‘racism,’ Biden covers up huge influx of illegal migrants ALBANY — Newly proposed congressional…

imageMore On: republicans GOP senator vows to block Biden’s DOJ picks over fallout from Portland protests NY redistricting shows Dems don’t care about voter rights, only consolidating power Black GOP candidates raking in big money With secrets, lies and cries of ‘racism,’ Biden covers up huge influx of illegal migrants ALBANY — Newly proposed congressional maps drawn by Democrats could cut New York’s current Republican delegation by half — eliminating at least one upstate seat and jeopardizing three others.

The Democrat-controlled state Legislature unveiled plans Sunday to shrink the GOP’s eight seats to just four, according to a proposed redistricting map.

The new map eliminates the current upstate district held by GOP Rep.Claudia Tenney of Binghamton to account for population loss, creating a new 22nd District effectively split between the seats held by retiring GOP Rep.John Katko of Auburn and Democratic Rep.Antonio Delgado of Kingston.

“We’re confident,” said the source, “if these maps pass, Claudia will run in the 23rd.Her family business is in Chenango.”

A source close to Tenney told The Post she will run for election in the newly configured 23rd District that retained portions of at least four of the eight counties she presently represents — Broome, Tioga, Cortland and Chenango.

She could also run in the new 24th District, which skews red, but the lines favor GOP Rep.Chris Jacobs of Geneseo and he’ll likely run for that seat, the source said.

Rep.Elise Stefanik’s district in upstate New York is relatively safe for Republicans in the redistricting plans.REUTERS Powerful House Republican Chair Elise Stefanik of Glens Falls is also safe, with the redrawn lines favoring GOP voters.

But New York’s new 1st District held by GOP Rep.

Lee Zeldin of Suffolk) — who is vacating his seat to run for governor against Gov.Kathy Hochul — would trend further blue, thus “creating an exceptional Dem pickup opportunity,” tweeted Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report, the national nonpartisan group that analyzes elections.

The district would change from Trump plus 4 to Biden plus 11.

“Unlike Dems’ Illinois gerrymander, which was thrown together pretty sloppily at the last minute, I can only find a few isolated places where this NY gerrymander ‘strands’ Dem votes in GOP districts – and even then, we’re talking fractions of points.It’s a brutal map for Rs,” he added .

Rep.Claudia Tenney’s district in Binghamton will be eliminated.Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Sipa U New York is losing one of its 27 House seats thanks to the results of the 2020 Census — which also diminished congressional delegations in six other states.

State Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy slammed the plans as a “brazen and outrageous attempt at rigging the election to keep Nancy Pelosi as speaker.”

“Democrats are circumventing the will of the people,” he said in a statement.

“For all of their phony protestations about transparency and fairness in elections, what they’re doing is textbook filthy, partisan gerrymandering that is clearly in violation of the New York State Constitution.

“We are reviewing all of our legal options to protect the voices of millions of New Yorkers.”

As The Post previously reported , the new Staten Island seat in NY-11 also poses a challenge for incumbent Republican Rep.Nicole Malliotakis — extending the right-leaning Staten Island districts to include liberal parts of Brooklyn, such as Park Slope and Sunset Park.

Rep.

Lee Zeldin’s district in Suffolk County will become more competitive, but the incumbent Republican plans not to run for re-election to focus on his campaign for governor.EPA Former President Donald Trump won NY-11 by 10.5 points in 2020.

If the new lines were in place last year, President Biden may have won by nearly 10 points — and could have turned ex-Democratic ex-Rep.Max Rose’s defeat into a possible victory.He outperformed Biden in the district, losing by only six percentage points.

Cutting out a GOP member representing the five boroughs could also disadvantage New York City, as Republicans are on track to gain control of the House next year, said former GOP Rep.John Faso from upstate Kinderhook.

“It clearly hurts New York City because the House is going to flip to Republican control and without a voice on the Republican side, makes it more difficult to accomplish all the goals we share: We want safer communities, we want better infrastructure — we want to make sure New York is treated fairly,” he told The Post.

Former Rep.Max Rose lost his re-election campaign in Staten Island and Brooklyn, but under the new redistricting plan, he could potentially win a rematch against Rep.Nicole Malliotakis.

AP “It’s not in the interest of New York state and New York City — just simply the Democratic Party.The people that brought us bail reform brought the most gerrymandered districts in New York state history,” he added, referring to debate over the state’s controversial bail laws dividing Democrats.

The maps could be voted on by lawmakers as early as Wednesday

Democrats in the Legislature gained control of the map-drawing process following a breakdown in bipartisan negotiations earlier this month within an independent redistricting commission that was mandated by a 2014 voter referendum to redraw the lines..

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