A group of New York voters filed a lawsuit on Monday in an effort to challenge the boundaries of the state’s 11th Congressional District. They claim the district, which covers Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn, unconstitutionally disenfranchises Black and Latino voters.
Lawsuit: Current congressional map unconstitutional
The lawsuit argues that the current lines for the district don’t account for demographic changes or “modern communities of interest.” Instead, the lawsuit claims the district’s boundaries “confine Staten Island’s growing Black and Latino communities in a district where they are routinely and systematically unable to influence elections for their representative of choice.”
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Elias Law Group, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm, filed the lawsuit, which also claims the current congressional map doesn’t account for the increase in Black and Latino populations and the decrease in the white population in the district.
The law firm was a party to the defendants of the 2022 court case that saw state Democrats forced to let an independent commission redraw district boundaries as they are now.
The voters want the court to toss out the state’s congressional map so that the district can be redrawn and, therefore, comply with the requirements of the New York Constitution.
Congresswoman, New York GOP react to lawsuit
Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican, currently represents New York’s 11th Congressional District and has held the seat since her 2020 election win. She called the lawsuit “frivolous” in a statement and said the boundaries were “enacted into state law by the state’s independent redistricting commission, the Democrat-controlled state Legislature and Democrat governor.”
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Democrats flipped three Republican-held House seats in New York in the 2024 elections, following a partial redistricting process that reshaped several districts.
Rep. Malliotakis also said in an X post that “We defeated them twice before and we’ll do it again.”
New York GOP Chair Ed Cox issued a similar statement, calling the lawsuit a “frivolous attempt to circumvent” a previous court ruling in 2022 over gerrymandering.
“Everyone should see this effort for what it is: a naked attempt to disenfranchise voters in NY-11 and elect a Democrat to this Congressional District contrary to the will of voters,” Cox said.
The lawsuit comes shortly after President Donald Trump endorsed Malliotakis for reelection on Truth Social, calling her a “tremendous champion” for the district.
Redistricting efforts continue across US
The push to add another Democratic seat from New York comes as Democrats look to counter Republican efforts to redraw congressional maps in the fight for control of the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026.
Republicans have made efforts to redistrict in several states, including Texas, Missouri, Kansas and North Carolina. Democrats have responded with their own efforts in states like California and Virginia.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has previously responded to Republican redistricting efforts in other states, specifically Texas, pledging to “fight fire with fire.”
“If Republicans are willing to rewrite these rules to give themselves an advantage, then they’re leaving us no choice, we must do the same,” Gov. Hochul said.
New York is limited on options. State law requires a ballot initiative to redraw congressional boundaries outside of its normal reapportionment process after a decennial census, meaning the earliest redraw would take effect in the 2028 election. The lawsuit, if successful, could be the only way to change that calculus by 2026.
