After SCOTUS Voting Rights ruling, Jeffries ramps up quest to redistrict New York

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced on Monday that he’s deploying Rep. Joe Morelle this week to meet with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and state legislators about mid-decade redistricting in the state.

Jeffries and Morelle, both New York Democrats, said in a joint statement the effort is a response to the Supreme Court’s decision last week weakening a section of the Voting Rights Act, a landmark 1965 civil rights law that prohibits discrimination in voting. The 6-3 ruling strikes down a majority-Black, Democrat-held district in Louisiana. And it could lead to similar districts being drawn out of existence in multiple Republican-led states ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

“While far-right extremists on the Supreme Court have twice recklessly cleared the path for partisan gerrymandering, Democrats refuse to unilaterally disarm,” Jeffries said. “This is just the beginning. Across the nation, we will sue, we will redraw and we will win. House Democrats will not allow a MAGA majority to be built on rigged maps and the dilution of Black voting strength.”

Morelle is the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal elections, and the former majority leader of the New York State Assembly. He’ll meet with Hochul, also a Democrat, and other state leaders on Tuesday.

New York has 26 congressional districts, only three of which the Cook Political Report With Amy Walter rates as competitive in their current configuration. Republicans hold 10 of the state’s seats, compared with Democrats’ 16.

Jeffries didn’t say how many seats Democrats would aim to pick up under the initiative he called the “New York Democracy Project.”

States typically redraw House district lines after the national census that takes place every 10 years.

But as Republicans evaluate a tough midterm election, with a razor-thin House majority to defend and strong anti-incumbency sentiment brewing, President Donald Trump last summer began urging Texas Republicans to re-draw the state’s congressional districts.

The GOP-led Texas legislature acquiesced, creating new maps that could net Republicans as many as five additional seats, and set off a mid-decade redistricting tit-for-tat. Democrats in California followed with their own effort and other states — like Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri, Ohio and Virginia — also entered the fray.

With six months until Election Day, the race to gerrymander House districts is not slowing down. On Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, signed newly created maps that could result in as many as four additional GOP seats. And in the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court decision, leaders in Southern states like Alabama and Louisiana vowed to quickly amend their congressional districts.

Democrats have in the past made opposition to gerrymandering a party platform, introducing legislation that would require independent commissions to re-draw congressional districts. But they’ve also repeatedly raised alarms about Trump’s alleged attempts to undermine elections and have opted to try to negate GOP redistricting efforts, even if some will be too slow for this year’s midterms.

Jeffries told Politico in April that states like Illinois, Maryland and New York could all be Democratic targets for mid-decade redraws ahead of the 2028 presidential elections.

New York has an explicit prohibition on mid-decade redistricting. One lawmaker, state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, with whom Morelle will meet on Tuesday, has introduced legislation that would amend the state constitution and clear the way for an off-cycle redraw.

“As Donald Trump and his Republican allies intensify extreme partisan redistricting efforts, I am proud to be entrusted by Leader Jeffries to work with partners in New York to explore every option to protect voters in 2026, 2028, and beyond,” Morelle said in the joint statement. “We will not allow these efforts to silence communities or undermine fair representation. We will fight, we will win, and we will protect the voters’ voice.”