(The Center Square) — New York Republicans blasted Gov. Kathy Hochul’s pledges to push for a partisan redrawing of the state’s congressional boundaries in response to Texas’s redistricting fight.
Hochul held a press briefing Monday with six Texas Democrats who fled their home state amid the impasse over the Republican-led redistricting plan, calling for “a strong stand against a blatant power grab,” by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and President Donald Trump, who want to carve out another five GOP congressional districts ahead of next year’s midterm election.
“We’re already working on a legislative process, reviewing our legal strategies, and we’ll do everything in our power to stop this brazen assault,” Hochul said in remarks Monday. “The gloves are off, and I say bring it on. We’re at war. So we need to fight fire with fire.”
Hochul said she and top New York Democrats are exploring “all options” to redraw the state’s congressional district lines, brushing aside concerns from good government groups.
But Congressman Mike Lawler, a Hudson Valley Republican, said Hochul’s comments “shows her disdain for the voters” who passed a constitutional amendment that shifted the responsibility of drawing congressional and state legislative district lines away from the Legislature to an Independent Redistricting Commission.
“I’ll give her credit for being honest — she wants to gerrymander New York’s maps and eliminate any opposition to one-party Democratic rule in Albany and New York City,” Lawler said in a statement. “These are the same people who have moved local elections to even years and require election law cases only be heard in Dem districts.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican who is considering a challenge to Hochul in next year’s gubernatorial election, blasted Hochul for “hypocrisy” and for “trying to erase her abominable record” on redistricting.
“She illegally attempted to gerrymander NY districts the past two cycles. She lost in court,” Stefanik posted on social media. “She tried to illegally suppress the voters in my district by threatening to delay a special election. Voters have not forgotten.”
Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt accused Hochul and Albany undemocratic, “trying to rig the redistricting process in their favor to preserve their own political power at the expense of the people.”
“Gov. Hochul has described the mid-decade redistricting as undemocratic yet her and other New York Democrats are willing to destroy democracy under the guise of saving democracy,” the Tonawanda Republican said. “Voters know what this is really about — political power.”
Hochul also took aim at Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who is threatening to remove the lawmakers from office or have them arrested if they don’t return to the state. The GOP-controlled Texas House of Representatives voted Monday afternoon to issue warrants for lawmakers who left the state for New York, Illinois and Massachusetts.
The watchdog group Reinvent Albany also criticized New York Democrats over the push for congressional redistricting, calling it a “race to the bottom” that will disenfranchise voters.
“New York is not going to save American democracy through extreme gerrymandering that deprives huge numbers of New York voters of a meaningful voice,” the group said in a statement Tuesday. “Locking in one-party rule in New York using undemocratic and fundamentally unfair laws will undermine public confidence and hurt the health of our democracy.”
Lawler plans to file a bill in Congress that would outlaw mid-decade congressional redistricting and partisan gerrymandering by state Legislatures. He urged Democrats to support the legislation.
“Gerrymandering is wrong and should be banned everywhere — including in New York, Texas, California, and Illinois,” he said. “I look forward to every single Democrat signing on to it.”
