Another challenge to N.Y. maps
Motion seeks to have the rest of the state’s redistricting charts tossed and redrawn, delaying all primary elections
“We must have fair and competitive elections in New York state. This is a strong suit that will bring change to New York state. We’re finally, hopefully, going to put an end to gerrymandering forever.”
Gary Greenberg
Gary Greenberg, a former Albany County legislator who was a leading advocate of New York’s Child Victims Act, filed a motion in state Supreme Court in Steuben County this week seeking to delay all of New York’s primary elections until at least August and to reopen the ballot-petition process, including for potential new candidates.
Greenberg filed the motion to intervene in a pending case in which the Court of Appeals recently affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the political boundaries established by the Democratled Legislature are unconstitutional and that the once-a-decade redistricting process had been flawed by partisan politics that favored Democratic candidates.
“I decided to stand up and be a voice, be a voice for all people across this state,” Greenberg said. “We must have fair and
competitive elections in New York state. This is a strong suit that will bring change to New York state. We’re finally, hopefully, going to put an end to gerrymandering forever.”
The Independent Redistricting Commission became mired in political gridlock when it could not agree to a single set of maps, leaving it to the Democratic majority in the Legislature to do the job.
That Court of Appeals ruling, which found the congressional districts were designed for the Democrats’ political gain, dictated only that the state Senate and congressional boundaries need to be redrawn by an independent expert — but Greenberg, noting that all of the political boundaries had been established in the same process, is asking a judge to order the same for the Assembly and statewide races, including the gubernatorial primaries. The redrawing of the boundaries will require at least the state Senate and congressional primaries to be pushed to Aug. 23.
State Supreme Court Justice Patrick J. Mcallister, who is presiding over the case in Steuben County, scheduled a hearing on Greenberg ’s motion for 10 a.m. Tuesday.
In a related case, a federal judge in Manhattan on Wednesday rejected what he characterized as a “Hail Mary” petition filed on behalf of a group of Democratic voters that sought an injunction staying the state courts’ rulings because they contended that delaying the congressional primaries until Aug. 23 would not leave enough time to distribute ballots to military members and other voters overseas.
“This court can avoid such an outcome by adopting a congressional plan for New York this week, in time for the New York State Board of Elections to certify the primary ballot, for (overseas military) ballots to be mailed no later than May 14, and for New York to conduct its primary on June 28 ... as it is federally mandated to do,” the plaintiffs wrote in their petition.
But their argument fell flat with the federal judge. Other states conduct primary elections in late August and remain in conformity with the overseas military ballot requirements.
John Faso, a former Republican congressman who has been advising the GOP on the court cases, said U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan had rightfully rejected the “pathetic and desperate effort by the (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) to perpetuate the unconstitutional gerrymander of U.S. House districts . ... I think we’re on solid ground.”
“If the Democrats in the Legislature had passed constitutional lines and didn’t overreach with the gerrymander, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation,” Faso said.
Greenberg, a Democrat, and his attorneys allege that while there were legal challenges waged by Republicans targeting the Senate and congressional boundaries, they believe the Assembly and statewide maps were not challenged in court for additional political reasons, including that the Assembly GOP was not unhappy with the outcome.
“Neither party truly wants competitive races,” said Jim Walden, an attorney for Greenberg in the case.”when this lawsuit succeeds, I hope that New Yorkers vote every complicit elected official out of office.”
Walden said their petition also seeks to delay the distribution of military absentee ballots until the case is resolved. He said it’s possible that if Democrats challenge their motion, the case could reenter the appeals phase, including possibly returning to the Court of Appeals.
That leaves uncertainty over whether there will be enough time to adjudicate the motion filed by Greenberg in time to delay the additional primaries.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, who is facing a three-way Democratic primary, said Tuesday that she believes the primaries for Assembly and statewide offices would remain on schedule for June 28, even as the Senate and congressional primaries are being rescheduled to Aug. 23. If the gubernatorial primary is delayed — and the petition process reopened — it could allow new challengers, including former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, to enter that race.
Hochul announced Tuesday that she is appointing U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado as her lieutenant governor. The move came a day after Democrats in the Legislature voted to change state election law to remove indicted former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin’s name from the primary ballot.
Hochul quickly signed the legislation into law late Monday after bills passed the Assembly and Senate enabling a nominated candidate to be removed from the ballot if they are charged with or convicted of crimes. That sequence brought fierce criticism from Republican lawmakers, who accused the governor and Democrats in control of the Legislature of changing state law for the sole benefit of her campaign — a move they said would not have occurred if a GOP candidate for lieutenant governor had dropped out of the race due to criminal charges.
The primary petitions gathered by the gubernatorial candidates were based on congressional districts that are expected to change as a result of the court case.
A source close to Cuomo told the Times Union this week that if the former governor enters the race, he would likely do so as an independent candidate.
The motion filed by Greenberg has the benefit of lower-court rulings that noted the Assembly districts were also invalid — but they weren’t ordered to be changed because the petition filed in Steuben County had not challenged them.
“It seeks to invalidate petitions submitted by existing candidates for any office, including the Assembly, Senate, the House of Representatives and people running for statewide office,” Walden said. “New York politicians have been quite zealous about calling out former President Trump and other states for voter suppression, but in this regard they did another form of the exact same thing here.”
Hochul, seeking her first full term after taking office in the wake of Cuomo’s resignation in August, is facing primary challenges from Democrats Jumaane Williams, the New York City public advocate, and U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, D -Long Island.
There is also a heated Republican gubernatorial primary that features the party’s nominee, U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin of Long Island; Andrew Giuliani, the son of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; former Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino; and Harry Wilson, a businessman who was a candidate for state comptroller in 2010.