The once-a-decade drawing of legislative district lines has snarled in New York State, where proposals from an Albany task force are now heading for consideration by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and a court has released draft lines for congressional districts.
Our map shows each of the proposals for district lines so far: Assembly and Senate lines from the state legislative task force, and congressional lines from a special master appointed by panel of federal judges.
The revised legislative lines are very similar to those the task force proposed in January. Minor alterations include a switch of downtown Syracuse from Senate District 50 to 53 and, in Queens, the addition of a two-block section to the 12th district to include the residence of incumbent Senator Michael Gianaris, who effectively would have been forced into a primary with another Democrat.
Redrawing New York: A timeline
Jan. 26, 2012: State legislative task force releases proposed district lines for Senate and Assembly.
Jan. 27: Cuomo vows to veto the task force proposal. “The maps are unacceptable…. I think anyone who looks at the maps will see the political machinations. You don’t have to look hard.”
Feb. 27: A three-judge panel in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District appoints Magistrate Judge Roanne Mann as special master and instructs her to propose congressional lines.
Feb. 29: Senate and legislature, having failed to come to agreement on proposed congressional lines, submit separate proposals to Judge Mann.
March 6: Judge Mann releases draft congressional maps, which would keep most incumbents in place.
March 11: Legislative task force releases revised Senate and Assembly district lines – in the form of 154,340 words of text.
March 12: Task force releases Senate and Assembly proposals as data files; Judge Mann releases a revised proposal for congressional lines.
March 14: Redistricting task force votes to release proposed lines to Senate and Assembly.
[Update] March 14: After Democrats walked out of the Senate on Wednesday night, Senate Republicans voted 36-0 in favor of the proposed lines. The Democratic-controlled Assembly approved its most recent proposal for that chamber’s lines. The Senate and Assembly also agreed to approve a constitutional amendment, handing future redistricting responsibilities to an independent commission. (In the map above, the second proposal for each chamber is the version going forward.)
March 15: Governor Cuomo issued a statement at 5:35am praising the passage of the constitutional amendment.
