New York court greenlights redistricting of GOP-leaning Staten Island

MANHATTAN (CN) — A mid-level state appeals court sided with Democrats on Thursday in their bid to redraw New York’s 11th District, a heavily Republican district that may now swing blue just in time for the 2026 midterms. 

In a brief ruling in New York’s Appellate Division, First Department, the five-judge panel unanimously ruled the state must draw up a new congressional map amid concerns that the current lines dilute the voting power of Black and Latino residents in Staten Island.

This would reshape the district of U.S. Representative Nicole Malliotakis, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, whose bid for reelection would go from a near inevitability to a toss-up.

Currently, New York’s 11th District encompasses Staten Island and a right-leaning slice of south Brooklyn. The new map would replace that chunk of Brooklyn with part of lower Manhattan that leans overwhelmingly Democratic.

As a result, Malliotakis’s 2026 run would be far more contentious. She’s now looking to the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and stop the redrawing of her district. 

In a statement to Courthouse News, the Republican congresswoman chastised the appellate court’s ruling as a “failure of New York’s judicial system.”

“New York’s appellate judges had a duty to step in and press the pause button on such a clearly unconstitutional decision,” Malliotakis said Thursday. “The U.S. Supreme Court has been unequivocal: race-based redistricting violates the U.S. Constitution. I look forward to the Supreme Court’s intervention in this case to uphold the rule of law and preserve the integrity of our elections."

Meanwhile, Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, technically a defendant in the underlying case, lauded the ruling as one that promotes equal representation.

“The New York State Constitution guarantees the principles of fair representation, and New Yorkers in every community deserve these protections,” Hochul said in a statement. “After the Appellate Division's decision today, there is now a need for the New York Independent Redistricting Commission to begin the work of redrawing these maps."

The underlying lawsuit comes from four New York voters who sued the state and its elections board in October, claiming the state’s congressional map drowns out Black and Latino votes in the district.

The voters say that despite the steady Black and Latino population growth in New York’s 11th District, the boundaries of the district have “not translate[d] to increased political influence at the federal level.”

They say that from 1980 to 2020, the combined Black and Latino population on Staten Island climbed from 11% to nearly 30%, while the island’s white population dropped from 85% to 56%. But the district’s current configuration fails to account for that demographic shift, the voters claim, running afoul of the state’s Voting Rights Act. 

Last month, New York Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Pearlman sided with the voters in ruling that the district must be redrawn due to Black and Latino voters being unable to elect their candidates of choice. 

“Here, racially polarized voting has been clearly demonstrated,” Pearlman wrote. 

It was an issue of first impression, as New York courts have never ruled on a vote dilution claim under the Voting Rights Act, passed by the state legislature less than four years ago. 

Thursday’s ruling from the appellate court upholds Pearlman’s ruling and cancels a stay that prevented the redistricting from starting. Now, the process is free to get off the ground — barring intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Last week, the Trump administration urged the high court to reject the new district lines. It lambasted Pearlman for ordering what it called an “open and unabashed racial gerrymander, directing the state to replace a district where the candidate backed by white voters usually wins with one where the candidate backed by black and Latino voters usually wins.”

The new lines on District 11 are a big win for Democrats nationwide, who are looking to counter Republican gerrymandering with redistricting of their own ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. 

Trump started the battle last year when he pressured Texas lawmakers to redraw the state’s map to favor Republicans. Democrats have since responded in California and Virginia with efforts of their own.

As for Malliotakis, she’s now expected to face Democrat Dan Goldman — who currently represents New York’s 10th District but would be bumped to the 11th in the new map — in a bid to keep her seat. 

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