Please review the proposed maps here:
Though we have not had a chance to completely analyze the plan, it appears that the Assembly lines do not have any major surprises, as many legislators always expect some shifting. However, that's not the case with the Senate. Though proposed districts have a majority of Democrats, all Senate seats in Westchester County are certainly up for grabs and position the GOP to be more competitive in each seat.
Senate Democratic Leader John L. Sampson upon studying the proposed lines said, “Eighteen months ago, Senate Republicans unanimously pledged to enact redistricting reform. Today, we see the culmination of their broken promise – a partisan scheme designed to keep them in power.”
Continuing, Sampson said, “This Republican proposal contains none of the criteria reformers sought and none of the reforms the Governor included in his proposed legislation. The Republican-proposed districts are not compact, vary widely in population, and divide communities of interest in blatantly political ways.”
“Worse,” Senator Sampson pointed out, “the Republican scheme ignores the testimony and submissions of scores of witnesses who participated in the hearing process, comes after months of foot-dragging on the reallocation of prisoners, and includes an unconstitutional 63rd senate seat – proving again the process itself has been and will continue to be nothing more than farce.”
“More Republican broken promises,” emphasized Senator Sampson, “compounded by a broken partisan process will only yield a broken product. There is still time to implement a better, fairer way to redistrict New York, where voters will get to pick their elected officials, not the other way around."
Share your thoughts with Carlos Gonzalez, The Albany Correspondent, by directing email to carl- gonz1@gmail.com.
