NY Dems’ uncivil war
Ex-pals now elex foes
An ugly civil war has erupted among New York’s Democratic elected officials thanks to the party’s overt gerrymandering of congressional districts, overturned by the courts and ordered redrawn by a special master.
“I thought it was disrespectful. We’ve served together a long time. He’s running in my district,” Upper East Side Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney told The Post of longtime fellow House member Jerrold Nadler’s bombshell plan to seek to oust her from her long-held seat after being drawn out of his own.
Nadler’s West Side base in the 10th Congressional District, where he has lived and which he has represented for five decades, was redrawn into Maloney’s 12th Congressional District.
Maloney has represented the East Side for nearly as long and both were first elected to the House in 1992, so she was stunned when Nadler, 76, without the courtesy of a phone call, put out a statement Monday saying he was running in her district.
She called Nadler to see if they could work together to try to get the House lines altered. Nadler, according to Maloney, said it was a waste of time and told her to run in another district.
Maloney said she’s not backing down. “I’ve never lost an election and I don’t intend to start now,” she told The Post.
“Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney are titans,” said Manhattan Democratic Party leader Keith Wright, who called the clash unfortunate.
The backbiting extended north after a redrawing of three congressional districts left three Democratic incumbents in the 17th, 18th and 19th scrambling for survival.
First-term Rep. Mondaire Jones didn’t take kindly to Sean Patrick Maloney, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, announcing without a heads up that he will run in Jones’ 17th CD.
“And I think that tells everything you need to know about Sean Patrick Maloney,” Jones told reporters.
The redistricting also potentially pits Jones against Rep. Jamaal Bowman, as they now reside in the same district. Both are black. Maloney is white.
In Brooklyn, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries was furious that the proposed maps break up black population centers in the borough and potentially pit him against neighboring Rep. Yvette Clarke.