New York's Kathy Hochul opens the door to redrawing House lines
Jeffries, in a podcast interview Monday, said Democrats should keep Republicans politically 'on the run.'
'I'm in conversation with members of the New York delegation, as well as the governor, to explore what, if anything else, can be done to ensure that New York does its part with respect to fair maps across the country,' Jeffries said. 'And every single state is going to have to do the same thing because Republicans are desperate.'
The potential tit-for-tat move by blue New York would be a heavy lift before the midterm elections — and would almost certainly be subject to legal challenges. The state's constitution stipulates redistricting may only be done once a decade and should be based on the most recent census data.
The governor's remarks drew a rebuke from statehouse Republicans.
'Kathy Hochul and Albany Democrats are experts at rigging the rules to protect their power and silence voters,' state Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt said.
A speedy redistricting of New York's House lines would be an unlikely bank shot.
Legal challenges forced New York's redistricting commission to redraw the state's House map, which was finalized in early 2024. A court order following another legal challenge to the existing House map could once again reopen that process. But such a development would require an extremely tight turnaround to redraw the map ahead of the 2026 elections.
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