After Democrats spent years blasting Republicans for their redistricting efforts, NBC’s Chuck Todd is calling out the party over its proposed Congressional map in New York.
During an appearance on NBC on Tuesday, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, was confronted about his party’s proposed Congressional map that could slash the number of Republican-held seats in New York in half.
“Let’s talk about redistricting and the New York map and the idea of gerrymandering. The Democratic Party, in general, is against gerrymandering. HR-1 would like to see it put to an end,” Todd said, adding, “I think you’re for it when it comes to the case of New York in 2022. Try to square that circle for me.”
Maloney responded, “It’s pretty easy. We won the House races in 2020 by 4.7 million votes, and we lost 12, 13 seats in the House. So you tell me how [in] the House of Representatives, that represents the population, one side wins the majority vote and loses seats. If the House doesn’t reflect the majority will, what the heck is it?”
He went on:
“So that tells you what kind of map we’re dealing with right now. So we can argue for fair districts and pick up Democratic seats because the Republicans have gerrymandered it all to hell over the last couple of cycles. And this time in the courts and in the legislatures we are making the case, and in New York, that communities of interest, what the law allows in New York, means that New York, which has been voting overwhelmingly Democratic in recent elections, should have representatives in the House that reflect that.”
It is true that Democratic House candidates won more votes across the country, and lost seats in the House in the 2020 election.
Watch the video below:
WATCH: @chucktodd: "You don't accept that you're gerrymandering in New York?" @RepSeanMaloney: "You tell me why we … win a majority of the votes in these elections why are we losing seats? … You can have Democratic improvements in these districts and have fair maps." pic.twitter.com/z087E8ncKn
— Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) February 1, 2022
Todd interjected, “You don’t accept that you’re gerrymandering? You don’t accept that you’re gerrymandering in New York?”
“You tell me why … if we win a majority of the votes in these elections, why are we losing seats? And what I’m telling you is that you can have Democratic improvements in these districts and have fair maps. Those things go hand in hand,” Maloney responded
On Sunday, New York Democrats unveiled a proposed map that could cut the number of Republican-held seats from eight to four. One seat would be eliminated due to population loss, and another three would be redrawn in ways that are seen as giving Democrats the advantage.
Social media users focused on New York’s 10th Congressional district and how it is drawn in the proposed map:
CaN yoU BuH-LieVe hOw tHe RePuBLiCaNs aRe GeRrYmAnDeRiNg? pic.twitter.com/5fgUrikmxS
— Joe Borelli (@JoeBorelliNYC) January 31, 2022
How do you end up ridiculous w/ shapes like this?
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) January 31, 2022
– #NY07 Velazquez wants both Bushwick and Red Hook
– #NY10 Nadler wants both the Upper West Side and Borough Park
– Dems want to attach Park Slope to Staten Island #NY11
No real other way to achieve it. https://t.co/Pfhl9bXCcz
The NY 10 district is so blatantly illegally drawn it is almost comical.
— Andrew Follett (@AndrewCFollett) February 1, 2022
We can't decide if it looks more like nunchucks or a diving pterodactyl?
Vote here to help us.https://t.co/WlUcK2YLXf pic.twitter.com/xPl5zu6Nat
In a majority of states, the legislatures redraw their district maps every 10 years. Some states have left the process up to independent commissions.
For years, Democrats have blasted Republicans over their redistricting efforts. And after the 2020 election left Republicans within striking distance of flipping the House in the midterms, there have been many articles warning that Republicans will be able to re-take the House simply through redistricting.
But after the New York map was proposed, Dave Wasserman of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report called it a “brutal map for [Republicans].
The experience in New York and other states shows that when Democrats have the opportunity to draw favorable maps for their party, they are not afraid to do so.
