Rewriting the Rules: Redistricting in the New York Primary Elections

Source: Curbed NY

New York, the fourth most populous state and a hallmark stronghold of the Democratic Party, faced a highly contested primary election cycle that put party unity to the test. Held in late August, the New York House primaries were embroiled in Democratic in-fighting and mired by disputes over recent redistricting. Nearly half of New York’s 20 million people live in and around New York City. These densely-populated urban districts tend to be some of the most diverse and progressive communities in the country. The outcomes of these competitive races–especially the campaigns in New York’s 10th and 12th Congressional Districts–reflect broader trends within the Democratic establishment as the party hopes to expand its majority during the midterm elections. In order to understand the relevance, and controversy, of the NY House primary elections we must examine the broader context of congressional redistricting and recent state policies aimed at addressing it. 

Although the recent court-ordered redistricting of New York congressional districts appeared as a last-minute switch-up, the procedure is rooted in a 2014 constitutional amendment that sought to reform the process by which New York’s political maps are drawn. Governor Cuomo portrayed this amendment as a monumental victory, creating an independent commission and quelling state corruption. Nonetheless, the amendment established a dubiously independent commission, where eight of the committee’s ten members were appointed directly by state legislative leaders. Moreover, the commission needed legislative approval for its new maps. Upon two rejected proposals, the legislature regains the power to draw its own maps. This reform was justified by a long-existing political counterbalance, the divided New York State Legislature, which would ensure no one party had total control over drawing new congressional maps. In 2021 this changed, with Democrats claiming a supermajority in both houses. This unexpected political shift enabled the Democratic legislature to reject proposals, thus having unimpeded powers to draw its own maps. This in turn incentivized Republicans on the commission to deadlock the map-drawing process, denying the legislature a vote and pushing the responsibility of redistricting to the courts. 

Thus, redistricting for the 2022 House primaries was placed in the hands of a court-appointed Special Master. Maps created by the Special Master drew criticism for dividing communities of interest, focusing on creating compact districts and avoiding incumbent favoritism. The Special Master operated on an ambiguous legal basis, following the broadly outlined procedures in the 2014 legislation. Ultimately, the courts heeded criticism of the Special Master, giving the legislature a grace period to draw its own replacement map. Democrats then refused to participate in the map drawing process, leaving the door open to a last-minute radical re-working of existing congressional districts. The resulting court-ordered map shifted district demographics and forced long-term colleagues into pitted races against one another. Although New York Democrats retain a seven-to-one numbers advantage over the Republican party, thus having little impact on this November’s general elections, the primary election cycle was still ruinous for unity within the Democratic party. 

Without further investigation, the New York House primaries would appear like any other competitive election cycle. Many incumbents escaped the controversial primaries unscathed. Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (NY-14) and Representative Ritchie Torres (NY-15) ran unopposed in their primaries. Incumbent Representative Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), representing parts of Brooklyn and Queens, convincingly quashed his Democratic opponent with a 70-point margin. Nonetheless, taken alone, these unopposed victories falsely minimize the true impact of the new congressional districts. We can only fully understand the true impact of New York’s redistricting when examining the key districts with competitive races, where both moderate and progressive incumbents were successfully unseated.  Showdowns between Democratic incumbents and their primary challengers drew national attention to newly competitive districts. National media coverage added fuel to already competitive races, resulting in major fundraising and coalition-building efforts. 

One of these key competitive districts, New York’s 12th Congressional District, reflects a breakdown in unity between two longtime Democratic incumbents. Dramatically altered by the Special Master’s map, the 12th Congressional District is an amalgamation of western and eastern Manhattan. The newly formed district pitted two long-term incumbents against each other. Jerry Nadler, formerly representing western Manhattan, has served in Congress since 1992 and is the current chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. His opponent, Carolyn Maloney, formerly representing eastern Manhattan, has served in Congress since 1993 and is the chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. New York’s new midtown congressional district pitted two of the most esteemed congressional Democrats against one another. In their respective campaigns, both committee chairs had considerable records to point to. Rep. Nadler, in his position on Judiciary, led both impeachments of former President Trump. Rep. Maloney campaigned on her record of advocacy for survivors of the September 11th attacks. Forced to run in the same district, both congresspeople were long-time allies and overlapped in their positions on most policies. Specifically, both Representatives “support abortion rights, the Green New Deal, and tighter restrictions on gun ownership”. Due to this, both campaigns emphasized identity differences, such as Nadler being the last Jewish representative in New York’s delegation. Nadler’s campaign was also bolstered by last-minute endorsements from the New York Times and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. At the end of the primary, Rep. Nadler was able to build a winning coalition and successfully unseat Rep. Maloney. New York's controversial redistricting forced two long-term incumbents into a highly contested race, leading to the end of Chairwomen Maloney’s 30-year political career. 

Another key district redrawn by the Special Master is New York’s 10th Congressional District. This district became embattled in an open primary, with twelve candidates contending for the district’s nomination. Representative Mondaire Jones, a freshman Democrat and one of the first openly gay Black men elected to Congress, moved to the 10th District after the newly drawn map left him districtless. Formerly representing White Plains, Rep. Jones’ district was drawn into neighboring districts represented by Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney. Rather than facing down other incumbents, Rep. Jones moved to an open primary and confronted eleven other candidates. While Rep. Jones benefited from his incumbency and pointed to his legislative record, voting for climate and health care legislation, he placed third in the primary. Rep. Jones was beaten by Dan Goldman, a former staff attorney for the Judiciary Committee during the first impeachment of President Trump. Jones considerably outraised the rest of the field, fundraising $3.6 million in contributions. Goldman, the heir to the Levi-Strauss fortune, raised $2.2 million including his own $1 million contribution.  Although fundraising was not decisive in this race, Goldman’s notable personal wealth considerably aided his campaign war chest. Wedged between Goldman, a moderate, and Rep. Jones, a progressive, was Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou. Forced to run in an open district far from his own base, Rep. Jones failed to consolidate the progressive vote, which split equally with Niou. This oversight led both progressive to their ultimate defeat against Dan Goldman, despite having an overall numbers advantage.

Evidently, the New York House primary elections were unusually competitive due to a highly controversial redistricting program. Several key districts were merged, rewritten, or absorbed. Multiple incumbents switched districts to run unopposed, or to avoid face-downs with their colleagues. For some districts, redistricting created highly competitive Democratic primaries that unseated progressive and moderate incumbents. Although the instituted redistricting procedure was a policy written by a Democratic governor and enforced by a Democratic legislature, the new congressional districts mostly hurt their own party. New congressional districts diminished party unity amongst New York Democrats, pitting moderates and progressives against one another. Additionally, new maps were hastily enforced, enacted last minute, and resulted from a heavily politicized process. Although new districts appeared successful in increasing competition, they largely failed at introducing new blood to the state delegation. Rather than creating a truly equitable map, Democrats hurt their own talent pipeline by trying to rewrite districts for their benefit. Rather than respecting the sanctity of the existing commission, or seeking to reform it, New York Democrats tried to circumvent the redistricting process. This ultimately failed, resulting in an unnecessarily chaotic primary, leading to the loss of exceptionally capable politicians.  

References

Korte, Gregory. “New York’s Redistricting Chaos Creates House Election Intrigue,” Bloomberg, August 23, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-08-23/new-york-s-redistricting-chaos-creates-house-election-intrigue?leadSource=uverify%20wall

Li, Michael. “What Went Wrong With New York’s Redistricting,” Brennan Center for Justice, June 7, 2022, https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/what-went-wrong-new-yorks-redistricting

Matthews, Karen. “Rep. Jerry Nadler defeats Rep. Carolyn Maloney in battle of top New York Democrats,” PBS News Hour, August 23, 2022, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/rep-jerry-nadler-defeats-rep-carolyn-maloney -in-battle-of-top-new-york-democrats

McIntire, Mary Ellen. “District Switch Doesn’t Save Rep. Mondaire Jones in New York Primary,” Roll Call, August 24, 2022, https://rollcall.com/2022/08/24/district-switch-doesnt-save-rep-mondaire-jones-in-new -york-primary/

Vestal, A. J., Briz, A., Choi, A., Jin, B., McGill, A., & Mahalik, L. (2022, September 1). House election results 2022: Live Primary updates: Voting by District. POLITICO. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://www.politico.com/2022-election/results/new-york/house/