Democrats are devastated after failing to gerrymander New York state’s map that would have sliced the Republican delegation in half.
On Wednesday, the New York Appeals Court struck down the gerrymandered map and ordered it to be redrawn by a “nonpartisan special master.” Though the special master is a Democrat, Republicans are expected to retain a few more seats than state Democrats intended. The gerrymandered map carved 22 of the 26 districts as blue territory.
The court ruling was a huge blow to Democrats, who hoped to destroy the Republicans’ influence in the state. The map would have served the Democrats’ use for the next ten years, shaping national politics for decades.
“I think it looks bad. I think we’ve got egg on our face,” retiring Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY) whined about the failed map, which has “caused intense frustration — and fingerpointing” within the party, according to Politico. “It didn’t need to be that way,” she said. “We could have made lines that were fair and followed the rules and still have been effective at making sure that Democrats are represented.”
Former congressional member Steve Israel admitted the court ruling is made worse by the challenges Democrats face in the November midterm election.
“I don’t think anybody’s gonna have to go to therapy as a result of it. But let’s put it this way: It’s not the kind of news that the Democrats wanted,” Israel told Politico. “Going into a tough midterm, you’re fighting for every yard. And when the referee tells you that you’ve lost yardage, it doesn’t help team spirit.”
Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) complained the new map will now be drawn by a nonpartisan special master. Democrats losing control of the redistricting process will likely benefit Republicans. “One thing that concerns me constitutionally is the fact that the legislature got solely wiped out of the process,” Espaillat said. “And the state constitution is very clear on their role.”
New York Young Republican Club Gavin Wax told Breitbart News that Democrats’ defeat was due to arrogance and incompetence. “The reason New York State Democrats find themselves in an oddly precarious political situation for such a reliably blue state is because of their own mixture of arrogance and incompetence.”
Gavin noted the New York Democrats have been exposed for pushing radical policies amid continual political scandals. “They tried to push things too far with their Hochulmander while also being exposed for corruption and incompetence in handling issues like crime and Covid,” he said. “Now they face a wave Republican year and the distinct possibility of even losing the State Senate to Republicans.”
“The tables have certainly turned,” Wax added.
The defeat was a rare one for Democrats. Democrats have been aggressive throughout the national redistricting process under the umbrella of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC). The organization is led by former President Barack Obama’s one-time attorney general, Eric Holder. Obama’s wingman has successfully thwarted Republican state lawmakers’ redistricting methods throughout the nation by aggressively gerrymandering House districts via the court system, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Leading Democrat election lawyer Marc Elias, who played a key role in pushing for vote-by-mail across the nation during the 2020 election and has supported Democrats’ efforts to gerrymander congressional district maps, has also worked behind the scenes to ensure Democrats successfully gerrymander state maps.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter and Gettr @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.