Joseph Ax

(Reuters] – New York Democratic lawmakers passed a new congressional mapping on Wednesday. The map gives the party an edge in 22 districts of New York, giving them the potential to reshape their battle for control over the U.S. Congress before November’s midterm election.

The plan, which passed largely along party lines in the Democratic-controlled state Senate and Assembly, could cut the state’s Republican congressional delegation in half, offsetting Republican gains in states such as Texas and Georgia where the party muscled through its own partisan maps last year.

The state currently has 19 Democrats, and New York will lose one due to slowing population growth.

It would make sure that the Republican candidate for the seat was eliminated, while making three Democratic-favored districts out of Republican-leaning ones. The map will be signed by Governor Kathy Hochul (a Democrat).

With one vacancy, the narrow advantage held by Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives is 222-212. Republicans would have the ability to block President Joe Biden’s legislation agenda if they win a majority of seats in November.

U.S. federal law mandates that states redraw their congressional lines every ten years to reflect population changes. Most cases are controlled by the lawmakers, who can also engage in gerrymandering which is the intentional manipulation of boundaries to favor one party.

Numerous national Democrats have criticized Republicans for their gerrymandering. The Republican opposition to voting rights legislation, which would have prohibited partisan redistricting in January by congressional Democrats, was defeated.

According to Michael Li (a Brennan Center for Justice lawyer and expert in redistricting), the New York map wouldn’t have been allowed under this bill.

“It exposes them to accusations of being hypocrites,” said he of Democrats.

After a failed consensus map was produced by a bipartisan committee, which voters approved in 2014, lawmakers passed their plan. Democratic and Republican members traded accusations of political gamemanship.

Republicans may challenge the map before a court of law, just as civil rights groups and voters have in many other states.