Drawing New District Lines Starts Albany Brawl

An article written by The Queens Gazette highlights some of the key issues concerning the Senate Republicans' redistricting proposal.

Assembly Democrats and state senate Republicans issued their new district maps for this year’s congressional and state legislative elections and they’re everything most reformers expected—self-serving exercises tailored to get most incumbents re-elected and keep the Assembly under Democratic control and enhance the Republicans’ chances of capturing the senate again.

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The senate’s proposed maps, according to varied sources, adversely affected five Democratic incumbents: state Senators Michael Gianaris (Astoria) and Jose Peralta (Corona) in one instance; Toby Ann Stavisky (Whitestone) and Tony Avella (Bayside) in another and Joseph Addabbo Jr. (Howard Beach).

 

In the Gianaris-Peralta situation, it appears the GOP was sharpening its knives to get Gianaris, who also is his party’s chief fundraiser for the elections this year, in which control of the senate could go either way.

The GOP map makers moved Gianaris’ residence one block from its present location into the same district as Peralta in a proposed new district.

 

Following release of the proposed senate lines, Gianaris and Peralta issued comments.

Gianaris stated: “With this brazenly political proposal, senate Republicans have done more in one day for the cause of independent redistricting than advocates like myself accomplished after years of advocacy.

Today, senate Republicans return us to the days when Albany was the most dysfunctional capital in the nation by bringing Tom Delay’s brand of politics to New York. The people of this state will not stand for it, and neither should we.”

Read the full article here.