New York voters file lawsuit to scrap House map over GOP seat

A handful of New York voters filed a lawsuit on Monday in an effort to scrap the Empire State’s congressional map over a House district represented by Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, as Democrats look to counter Republican redistricting efforts ahead of 2026. 

The lawsuit, which was filed by Democratic law firm Elias Law Group, alleged that “Black and Latino Staten Islanders have less opportunity than other members of the electorate to elect a representative of their choice and influence elections in New York’s 11th Congressional District,” violating New York’s constitution. 

The lawsuit alleges that the map doesn’t take into account notable Black and Latino population increases coupled with a white population decline in the House district, which includes southern portions of Brooklyn and all of Staten Island. 

The voters are urging for the state’s congressional map, which was passed by New York Democrats last year, to be tossed out, pressing for the 11th Congressional District to be redrawn “in which Staten Island is paired with voters in lower Manhattan to create a minority influence district in CD-11 that complies with traditional redistricting criteria.” 

Malliotakis criticized the lawsuit in a statement, describing it as “frivolous” and noting her congressional lines were enacted by Democrats and the state’s redistricting commission after initially being drawn by a court-appointed special master.

“This is a terrible abuse of the legal process by an ultra-partisan Washington law firm that does the bidding of the national Democrat Party in an attempt to tilt the scale to give their party an advantage in next year’s election,” she added.

The lawsuit, which was filed shortly after President Trump endorsed Malliotakis for reelection, sets up an opportunity for New York to potentially redraw its House map ahead of 2026 as Democrats look to nix Republican redistricting efforts in other states. New York would ordinarily need to pass a constitutional amendment in order to do mid-decade redistricting, meaning the latest the Empire State could implement new maps would be 2028. 

However, a lawsuit could allow a state to bypass those logistical hurdles, with the hope among Democrats being that they could get a new map before next year’s midterms. 

But it’s not a sure-fire solution for Democrats. The courts struck down Democrats’ congressional lines in 2022 over gerrymandering, instead having a court-appointed special master draw the lines instead.  

Democrats passed new maps again last year, with some Republican support, that bolstered some Democratic and GOP seats. The lawsuit would essentially mean that Democrats erred in how they redrew their congressional lines last year. 

New York state GOP chair Ed Cox slammed the lawsuit in a statement, saying, “This latest lawsuit, brought by the same lawyers who previously defended the unconstitutional state gerrymander in 2022, is seeking a blatant racial gerrymander in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.” 

“Everyone should see this effort for what it is: a naked attempt to disenfranchise voters in NY-11 and elect a Democrat to this Congressional District contrary to the will of voters,” he added. 

The White House has pressed a number of red states to redraw their House lines ahead of 2026 as Republicans look to protect their narrow House majority, prompting Democrats in other states to respond. Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) announced earlier Monday he would be calling a special session over redistricting.  

California is so far the only blue state that’s poised to potentially see new maps that would nix some of the gains Republicans have made elsewhere. Democrats might also see some gains in Utah, too.

Updated at 3:14 p.m. EDT