As the state continues to draw new congressional maps, there’s a whole new Congressional District in New York City. It’s attracting a fantastic cast of characters as well as scads upon cash.
These district lines were finalized Friday by Jonathan Cervas, a Carnegie Mellon University fellow and special master. To the delight of New York Republicans, he left behind chaos and misery.
“Today is an important day for democracy. “Democrats’ plan to rig the election has been defeated beyond repair,” Nick Langworthy, state GOP Chair, stated in a statement.
This scheme would have allowed the Democrats to win up to 21 seats, while the Republicans could only get five. The Republicans had a 19-8 partisan advantage. New York lost one seat in redistricting. This has led to several incumbents being forced into cage matches, which will give Republicans at most three additional seats throughout the state.
The entertainment in the new 10th District, which will include parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, is unmatched. Two heavyweights, Bill de Blasio, former New York City mayor, and Mondaire Jones (radical Congressman), have already declared their intention to run for the seat.
Dawn Smalls is another candidate who is interested in the race. She was a once-in-a-lifetime candidate for the New York City position of public advocate three years ago. Before being appointed as the monitor for a global financial firm, Smalls was a member of both the Clinton White House and the Obama White House.
Smalls, who lives nearby, stated that she was “definitely looking at it” in a phone interview. “I haven’t made a final determination.”
Smalls stated that she did not intend to run until the draft plans were released Monday by a master who was charged with drawing New York’s congressional lines.
Only a few days have passed since the final map was published and the list of candidates has grown to be quite long. It’s expected to continue growing as the days progress.
According to someone close to Goldman, Daniel Goldman is also considering running for the seat. He was an attorney who represented Trump in the first round of House impeachment hearings. The person stated that Jeff Liszt, Impact Research pollster, is advising Goldman about his interest in the seat.
Carlina Rivera, a City Councilmember, has established a federal election commission ahead of the Aug. 23 primary. Other candidates or hopefuls include Senator Brad Hoylman and Assembly Members Robert Carroll as well as Jo Anne Simon.
POLITICO reported earlier this week that state Senator Simcha Felder stated he was looking into the seat. It includes an Orthodox Jewish section in Brooklyn, which he has represented for many years.
Jones and de Blasio will be the front-runners unless something dramatic happens. This should make for an interesting match-up. De Blasio does poorly among wealthy whites, who are the majority of the new district’s voters.
Jones, who is black, was elected to a seat in a predominantly white suburban district. As it is expensive to run for Congress in New York City, the race will likely set spending records. Both men also have large donor networks that they can tap to get cash.
Bottom line: The new map has ended all hopes for national Democrats to use New York’s gerrymandering gains to offset Republican gerrymanders from Texas and Florida. They will sit on the minority side, regardless of who the Democrats are.
