Courts Step In On Stalled Partisan-Legislative-Driven New York Redistricting Process

NEW YORK REDISTRICTING

• Common Cause reacts to new congressional maps (Chris Morris, Adirondack Daily Enterprise) "The map is a stark departure from the Legislature's gerrymandered version to produce a far better result, demonstrating beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there is in fact no practical impediment to drawing fair maps, only a political one," Lerner said.
• 2016 Frontrunners Diverge on Redistricting (By Joshua Miller, Roll Call) “There will be national electeds who remember that he, at the height of his power, had the ability to step in and get a map done [for Democrats] and didn’t,” one New York Democratic operative said with more than a touch of frustration.
• Court Finalizes New York's Congressional Districts  (By Jill Colvin, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer) The judges' map rejected a proposal for a new majority Latino district in Upper Manhattan, the Bronx and Queens, meaning that State Sen. Adriano Espaillat will be likely pitted against long-time Harlem leader, Rep. Charles Rangel instead of running in a separate contest.
• Congressman Grimm Praises New York's Redistricting Process (By: NY1 News Staten Island) The Brooklyn and Staten Island representative calls the process a home run for his district, saying the new lines make it slightly stronger on the Republican side.
  
• Gov. Cuomo Succumbs (NY Times Editorial) Despite repeated promises that he would veto gerrymandered districts drawn by legislators, the governor broke that vow and quietly signed the law that will allow unfair legislative elections in New York for the next 10 years. By approving the Legislature's districts, he has now made it far more difficult for the courts to revise these defective maps. 
• In 'The New York Times,' Cuomo's redistricting commission loses its independence (By Azi Paybarah, Capital NY) In a video message to New Yorkers that Cuomo posted online yesterday, the governor essentially claimed victory on five different fronts, including pensions, teacher evaluations, casino legalization and the expansion of a DNA database.
• Cuomo on the sequel to the bad old redistricting movie (By Josh Benson, Capital NY) Cuomo: "And ultimately, the legislators drew their own lines once again. And it was all legal, provided for in our constitution. If I had vetoed the lines this year, as some suggested, a court would have passed them. And from past experience, I believe the lines would have been substantially the same."
• Cuomo amendment ends Albany gerrymandering as we know it - Future districts to be drawn by commission, not lawmakers (NEW YORK DAILY NEWS) The same pols who downsized Gov. Cuomo’s pension reforms were even more incorrigible when it came to gerrymandering. Cuomo joined government watchdogs in rightly pushing for an independent panel to set district lines based on the 2010 census — to prevent legislative bosses from shamefully manipulating the mapmaking for partisan gain. But Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos turned deaf ears — conspiring behind closed doors to draw the ugliest, most gerrymandered and unequal districts Albany has ever seen, especially for the Senate. The saving grace is that Cuomo leveraged his veto threat to win a permanent, landmark fix for this badly broken process.

NEW YORK SENATE

• Dems & WFP For Gilly; Conservatives For Long (BY Celeste Katz, Daily News/ Daily Politics) Gillibrand will also appear on the WFP line -- Row D -- in the November contest, and previously picked up the endorsement of the Independence Party.