PoughkeepsieJust a month before the critical November midterm election, New York has emerged from a cycle of district reorganization as perhaps the nation’s most important Congressional battleground, and Democrats are mired in an ever-growing struggle, costly only to maintain its position.
In all, nine of New York’s 26 seats, from the tip of Long Island to the banks of the Hudson River here in Poughkeepsie, are up for grabs, more than any other state except California.
For Democrats, the uncertainty is particularly disturbing: Just 10 months ago, party leaders, who controlled the state’s district reorganization process once every decade, optimistically predicted that new district lines could protect Democrats and jeopardize up to five Republican seats, allowing them to add key blocks to their national firewall.
Now even Rep Sean Patrick Maloney, who once hoped New York would lighten his burden as Democrat campaign chairman in the House, faces a feasible challenge, with both sides’ internal polls showing a draw in one. suburban area that President Biden won by 10 points.
“I watch him closely and feel I need a neck brace,” said Steve Israel, the former Long Island congressman who served as Maloney’s runner-up in the 2012 and 2014 elections. intermediate periods of this cycle are the most unpredictable and fluctuating I have seen, but no state has shown it more than New York. ”
The turnaround in New York, where there are more than twice as many registered Democrats as Republicans, is all the more surprising given the broader national context. In a year in which many states have used district reorganization to minimize the number of truly competitive districts, New York is virtually the only one moving towards more competition, after an attempt at democratic gerrymandering has backfired and the courts state officials intervened at the last moment to draw more neutral lines.
