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New York City’s lone Republican lawmaker in the House of Representatives is asking the highest court in the land to stop a Democrat-backed bid to gerrymander her seat in Congress.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., filed a petition with the Supreme Court late last week asking it to halt a state court-ordered redraw of New York’s congressional map ahead of the November midterm elections.
The New York State Supreme Court ruled last month that Malliotakis’ district unfairly dilutes the power of Black and Latino voters, following a lawsuit led by Democrat lawyer Marc Elias’ law firm on behalf of four New York residents.
New York’s 11th congressional district (NY-11), which Malliotakis won in 2020, encompasses all of Staten Island and a sliver of southern Brooklyn. It’s the only district in the Big Apple represented by a Republican after Malliotakis defeated one-term former Rep. Max Rose, D-N.Y.
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Malliotakis’ court petition argued that the Manhattan court “violated the Equal Protection Clause by prohibiting New York from running congressional elections until the state racially gerrymanders” her district.
The GOP congresswoman pointed out in a recent interview with Fox News Digital that she herself is Latino, with a mother who fled Cuba’s communist regime.
“The fact that they’re claiming somehow Hispanics and minorities are disenfranchised when I’m the first Hispanic elected to represent the district makes it even more ridiculous,” Malliotakis said at the time.
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The state court decision by Justice Jeffrey Pearlman found that “Black, Latino, and Asian Staten Islanders’ political representation and participation in politics still lags behind White Staten Islanders” in violation of the New York State Constitution.
“A demonstration of racially polarized voting shows that the minority groups at issue vote as a bloc, as do White voters, and that the minority preferred candidates ‘usually’ lose,” Pearlman’s decision said. “Petitioners have demonstrated that here.”
Malliotakis’ Supreme Court petition said, “The New York State Legislature adopted CD11’s current boundaries two years ago, with an overwhelming majority of the Legislature’s Black and Latino members voting in favor of it.”
It argued that the lawsuit was brought, however, “less than four months ago under the theory that the votes of CD11’s Black and Latino voters — who comprise about 23% of CD11 — have been unconstitutionally diluted because their candidate of choice wins only 25% of the time.”
The petition said the court’s decision to “racially gerrymander” the district is a “recipe for unconstitutional chaos, with no map in place and uncertainty as to whether nominating petitions can start circulating on February 24, with no end in sight.”
But Democrats have been salivating at the idea of drawing out the deep-blue city’s lone House Republican.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a statement last month, “This ruling is the first step toward ensuring communities of interest remain intact from Staten Island to Lower Manhattan.”
New York is one of several states plunged into the redistricting battle that has gripped the United States.
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It began last year in Texas, when the state’s GOP-led legislature redrew its congressional map to give Republicans an advantage of as many as five new House seats.
California soon followed suit, creating a new map giving Democrats the same advantage.
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