Only Supreme Court remains: Ruling allows Dem-friendly redrawing of Staten Island’s congressional map
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The U.S. Supreme Court may be the only thing standing in the way of a Democratic gerrymander of Staten Island’s congressional district after a Thursday decision from the state Appellate Division.
Judges with the court’s first department decided unanimously to lift the stay against New York Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Pearlman’s Jan. 21 order to redraw New York’s 11th Congressional District, which Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis currently represents.
Republicans like Malliotakis say the redistricting order amounts to little more than a political gerrymander ordered by Pearlman, who Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed to the bench in 2021 after he served as her chief of staff during her time as lieutenant governor.
Staten Island Democrats and the plaintiffs who brought the case contend the suit is really about correcting an illegal violation of Black and Latino Staten Islanders political rights.
Malliotakis calls on Supreme Court to intervene
“The Appellate Court’s failure to stay the legally-flawed decision issued by Kathy Hochul’s hand-picked judge represents a failure of New York’s judicial system. New York’s appellate judges had a duty to step in and press the pause button on such a clearly unconstitutional decision,” Malliotakis said Thursday. “The U.S. Supreme Court has been unequivocal: race-based redistricting violates the U.S. Constitution. I look forward to the Supreme Court’s intervention in this case to uphold the rule of law and preserve the integrity of our elections.”
Last week, attorneys for Malliotakis asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene staying Pearlman’s decision, and on Thursday, multiple interested parties submitted their positions to the court.
New York’s Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, is not expected to intervene in the case after the Appellate Division’s unanimous ruling, so the nation’s highest court is likely Malliotakis’ last chance to block a redrawing of the district.
Democrats fighting for Staten Island seat could get the edge
Pearlman’s order didn’t specify how the district should be redrawn, but in their case, the plaintiffs presented an illustrative map that moved the shared portion of district into lower Manhattan neighborhoods like Battery Park City, the Financial District and the West Village.
Staten Island doesn’t have a large enough population for a congressional district entirely of its own, and the shift into Lower Manhattan would give Democrats an advantage over Malliotakis heading into the November elections.
While voters in both district-mate options went for former Vice President Kamala Harris in the last presidential election, those in lower Manhattan did so more overwhelmingly, according to an analysis from The City news outlet.
That advantage could help Democrats take the only Republican-held congressional district in the five boroughs, which Malliotakis first won in 2020 when she defeated former Democratic Rep. Max Rose.
Pearlman sided with plaintiffs’ argument that 2024 maps should’ve brought the 11th Congressional District into Manhattan to create a “minority influence district” where Black and Latino voters on Staten Island could combine with communities in Lower Manhattan to elect their candidates of choice.
Plaintiffs brought the initial lawsuit against the state Board of Elections and New York’s Democratic leaders, including Hochul, who passed the current map in 2024 but have done little to defend their drawing.
Attorneys for Malliotakis intervened in the case, and have also filed appeals with the New York Appellate Division and Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court.
Republicans with the state Board of Elections had set a Feb. 6 deadline as the latest for when new maps could be implemented for the state’s upcoming congressional elections, but that has come and gone.
Staten Island voters will have to wait on the U.S. Supreme Court to know what their congressional district will look like heading into this year’s elections.
