What democracy looks like
Jonathan Cervas, the nonpartisan Carnegie Mellon expert hired by Acting Steuben County state Supreme Court Justice Patrick McAllister to properly and fairly redraw New York’s congressional and state Senate districts — after Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Gov. Hochul violated the state Constitution with their pro-Democrat gerrymandering — has done a fine job with the maps for both published yesterday.
These new lines greatly increase interparty competition, giving voters far more clout than the maps thrown out by the state’s highest court. What they don’t do is protect incumbents; two senior members of Congress now reside in the same district. So be it.
Direct complaints to Stewart-Cousins, Heastie and Hochul and the key mover of the unconstitutional scheme, the Senate’s No. 2, Mike Gianaris. They got greedy and ran roughshod over the independent redistricting rules passed by New York voters.
Next, Cervas should be handed a redo of the Assembly maps, which arose from the same tainted process but haven’t yet been knocked down because the state’s highest court said a plaintiff was lacking. No more: Three have stepped forward on behalf of 20 million New Yorkers demanding their representatives be chosen through a constitutionally kosher process.
Their lawsuit, filed in Manhattan, demands that the Court of Appeals, the ultimate interpreter of the state Constitution, be obeyed. They want the Assembly primary, set for June 28, to be moved, ideally to Aug. 23, when the congressional and Senate primaries are scheduled. If that can’t work, then September it must be. Ditto for the statewide offices, as those petitions were collected based on redrawn congressional lines. McAllister was asked to do this last week, but while he agreed that the Assembly maps should be voided, he suggested a new case be brought.
Hold one primary, with valid lines for all offices. Stewart-Cousins, Heastie and Hochul should have done so from the outset. They got a second chance after the Court of Appeals blew the whistle. To advance their own agendas, they put their fingers in their ears.