Tom Suozzi’s victory last week is strong proof that New York’s voting districts were drawn fairly — and Democrats’ demands for new ones reflect nothing but greed.
Suozzi, a Democrat, prevailed decisively in the special election to fill the congressional seat left vacant by George Santos’ ouster.
Santos, a Republican, had captured the seat in the 2022 midterms.
In other words, the current voting map, drawn by a court master before the midterms, first produced a Republican win, and then a Democratic one just 15 months later in the same district.
Clearly, New York’s congressional districts weren’t rigged to ensure either party would maintain control.
Alas, that’s not good enough for Democrats.
They wanted the deck stacked in their favor: The map Dem lawmakers drew in 2022 — after the bipartisan Independent Redistricting Commission failed to produce one — was designed to limit Republican seats to a maximum of just four, of the state’s 26.
The state Court of Appeals rightly tossed the Dems’ map, since it blatantly violated the state constitution’s ban on gerrymandering, and the fairer one that replaced it, drawn by the court master, led to Republicans winning 11 seats, helping the GOP gain control of the House.
That, recall, sent Dems reeling. Republicans can’t be allowed that many victories, they huffed.
So they sued to force another round of mapmaking, preposterously claiming the new map was legally good for only one election.
They also packed the top court with judges who’d grant their wish — and sure enough, it ordered the IRC to draft yet another map.
Yet Suozzi’s victory shows the current one is fair, and Dems can win with it; they don’t need to gerrymander, unless their goal is to shut out competition. (Talk about threats to democracy!)
The IRC seemed to agree Thursday: It approved a new map that’s very similar to the existing one.
Still, that may not satisfy greedy Dem lawmakers, who can legally nix the IRC plan and replace it with their own.
Yes, any voting map must theoretically pass constitutional muster and not favor a party, but the court — which, again, Dems rigged — would ultimately decide if it did.
Meaning New York could soon be saddled with unconstitutionally gerrymandered voting districts that lock out Republicans for years.
Nothing could be more politically unhealthy than a one-party monopoly ruling the state for decades.
If Dems go that route, New Yorkers should respond with a monumental voter revolt to take back their democracy.