WASHINGTON — Two veteran House Democrats from New York City would be forced into a primary face-off to represent a new Manhattan-based district under a draft of a redrawn congressional map for the state.
Representatives Carolyn Maloney and Jerrold Nadler, both of whom have been in Congress for 30 years and head influential House committees, said on Twitter that they would run for the 12th District seat.
The map, if approved by a state court, also would pit Sean Patrick Maloney, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, against Mondaire Jones, a progressive first elected in 2020 from a district that spans Rockland and northern Westchester counties just north of New York City.
The map will significantly reshape districts for other incumbents as well and it would improve GOP prospects for winning a House majority in November.
Democrats denounced the map, which would replace one created by the Democratic-controlled legislature that the state Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional gerrymandering.
Representative Hakeem Jeffries of New York, a member of House Democratic leadership, said in a tweet that the draft map “viciously targets historic Black representation in NY” and called it “unacceptable, unconscionable & unconstitutional.”
Nadler tweeted that he believed the map violated the requirements of New York’s Constitution, but that if it stands he would “very much look forward to running in and representing the people of the newly created 12th District of New York.”
Maloney also tweeted her intention to run. “A majority of the communities in the newly redrawn NY-12 are ones I have represented for years,” she said.
Nadler is chair of the Judiciary Committee and Maloney is head of the Oversight and Reform panel. Both also are close allies of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The Supreme Court in Steuben County, which is overseeing the reworking of the map by a court-appointed special master, is expected to rule by Friday. The court can either accept the draft or adjust it.
Democrats currently hold a 19-8 majority in the state’s congressional seats but will lose one because of population declines as reported in the 2020 US census. Under the proposal, Democratic candidates would have an edge in 16 of 26 New York congressional districts, down from 22 Democratic-leaning seats in the version struck down as a gerrymander.
David Wasserman, an analyst with the non-partisan Cook Political Report, tweeted Monday that the proposed new map “is pretty bad news for Democrats.” He projected that with so many competitive seats, it’s not “hard to envision” a new 16 Democrats to 10 Republicans split after the November elections, or even 15-11.
