Democrats decided yesterday to re-draw New York’s congressional districts, rejecting a map proposed by the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission. That’s according to the New York Times. The move paves the way for the potential to draft new maps that could be more favorable to Democrats. In a statement, Rockland Congressman Mike Lawler of the 17th district called the move “another attempt by Washington and Albany Democrats to thwart the will of the voters and engage in another unconstitutional gerrymander.” Rockland’s State Senator Bill Weber of the 38th District last week, following the commission’s release of the maps that were rejected yesterday by the legislature, said he was OK with the commission’s maps, though he wasn’t a big fan of the whole process…
Weber hopes the courts can resolve the issue, calling it a “setback” but not a “death sentence.” The final vote mostly went along party lines, going 40 to 17 in the Senate and 99 to 47 in the Assembly, where two Democrats joined with Republicans. The new maps have been at the center of political and legal fights for two years.