Gov. Kathy Hochul and fellow Democrats are again threatening to rig New York’s congressional voting-district maps to win seats for their party.
And in mid-decade, no less, in clear violation of the state Constitution.
It’s sleazy, anti-democratic — and illegal.
Even Hochul admits it, but suggests Dems may do it anyway since Texas and Ohio are moving to draw up new districts in their states.
“All’s fair in love and war,” she huffed last week. “If there’s other states violating the rules and are trying to give themselves an advantage, all I’ll say is, I’m going to look at it closely.”
Huh? If Texas and Ohio rig their maps, that doesn’t give Hochul & Co. the right to break New York’s laws — even if her goal is to offset any advantage Republicans get in those states.
Note, too, that Hochul is huffing not about protecting New York’s influence in Congress but her party’s.
And at the expense, presumably, of Republican voters in New York, since the goal would be to draw district lines favorable to Democrats.
True, Texas and Ohio Republicans are expected draw lines they hope will favor them. But if those states cheat their Democratic voters, those voters can sue.
Hochul and her party are worried that if more Republicans are elected from those states, it’ll make it harder for Democrats to win control of the House in next year’s midterms.
But again, if the donkeys think those states are breaking any laws, they can go to court, too.
Meanwhile, if Hochul tried to gerrymander in time for the midterm, she’d be doubly violating the state Constitution.
First, redistricting can take place only once every 10 years, after the Census, not mid-decade.
Second, in 2014 New Yorkers passed a constitutional amendment that empowered an independent decennial redistricting commission and specifically banned partisan gerrymandering.
But Democrats ignored the amendment and tried to gerrymander anyway a few years ago, and it took a ruling by the state’s top court to stop them.
We don’t condone gerrymandering, by either party, in any state. It cheats voters, skews representation and undermines democracy.
As even Democratic boss Jay Jacobs warns, “We need to be careful about democracy,” adding, “You don’t change the rules of the game to your advantage just because you can.”
Given the tight timeframe, it’s unlikely Democrats could pull this off.
But then, if New York Dems were willing to violate the Constitution before, who can be sure they won’t “break the rules” again to push through corrupt new district lines in time?
New Yorkers of both parties should demand Hochul take back her threat and obey the law.
This story originally appeared on NYPost
