NEW YORK (AP) — A lawsuit filed Monday seeks to redraw the boundaries of the only congressional district in New York City represented by a Republican, arguing that its current configuration unconstitutionally dilutes the power of Black and Latino voters.
The case, filed by an election law firm on behalf of four voters, comes amid a national fight over congressional boundaries ahead of next year’s midterm elections, which will determine control of the narrowly divided U.S. House.
President Donald Trump has pressured Republican-led states to redraw House districts to increase his party’s chances of maintaining control of the House, leading to a flurry of redistricting efforts across the country. Democrats have launched their own counter measures, but those efforts have often been blunted by laws intended to prevent partisan gerrymandering.
The lawsuit in New York, if successful, could help Democrats in their quest to retake a House majority next year.
The plaintiffs allege the district, which is represented by Republican U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, is drawn without accounting for a rise in Staten Island’s Black and Latino population and should be reconfigured to include parts of lower Manhattan, which leans more Democratic.
As it currently stands, the district encompasses Staten Island, a conservative enclave, along with a nearby part southern Brooklyn that shares a similar political bent. Lower Manhattan is dominated by massive apartment and office buildings and is home to the city’s financial district.
In a statement, Malliotakis called the case “frivolous” and said the boundaries were “enacted into state law by the state’s independent redistricting commission, the Democrat-controlled state Legislature and Democrat governor.”
NYGOP Chair Ed Cox issued a similar statement, saying “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.”
The state’s election board, which is named as a defendant in the case, declined to comment.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul had pledged to wade into the national redistricting battle, but has few options to substantially change the state’s congressional lines ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Democrats in the state Legislature redrew the congressional map last year to give their party a modest boost in a few battleground districts, helping the party to pick up a handful of seats in the 2024 elections. Democrats currently control a majority of the state’s congressional districts.
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