Miracles can happen. Even though every member of New York’s Court of Appeals, that state’s top appellate court, was appointed by Democratic governors, a majority of them have thrown out the state’s grossly gerrymandered Congressional districts. The Democrats were attempting to draw district lines that would have reduced the NY GOP House members from eight to four – out of the state’s 26 congressional seats.
Both parties gerrymander, but NY Democrats were openly flouting the election laws. They rewrote the maps drawn by an independent commission in favor of districts that twisted and turned in favor of their candidates. In addition, the legislature ignored a 2014 referendum passed by voters that explicitly banned extreme gerrymanders.
The “Jerry Mander,” this bizarrely shaped district hand-crafted for Jerry Nadler, was the most egregious of the districts in the Democrats’ illegal map.
Democrats will now pay the price for their power grab. New York’s legislature will no longer redraw the lines. An independent “special master” will draw up new district lines.
Even the New York Times couldn’t defend the egregious gerrymandering and noted: “The court’s findings could undermine Democrats’ attempts to position themselves as the party of voting rights and could cast their attacks on Republican gerrymandering efforts as hypocritical.”