New York will move to redraw congressional map in response to Texas GOP's redistricting plan

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she will speed up the redrawing of her state’s congressional districts in response to a plan in Texas to eliminate five U.S. House seats now controlled by Democrats.

Ms. Hochul, a Democrat, also called for disbanding New York’s independent redistricting commission, which is tasked with ensuring congressional districts are drawn in a nonpartisan manner.

New York was not slated to reconsider congressional district boundaries until 2034, but Ms. Hochul said she will move much sooner to counter GOP redistricting in Texas.

“All is fair in love and war,” Ms. Hochul told reporters Monday. “We are following the rules. We do redistricting every 10 years, but if there are other states that are violating the rules and trying to give themselves an advantage, all I say is I’ll look at it closely. …”

Ms. Hochul appeared alongside several Democratic members of the Texas Legislature who fled the state Sunday in a bid to prevent the GOP-led Texas House from voting on a new congressional map.

The redrawn districts, if approved by the Texas Legislature, would likely eliminate five seats in the U.S. House that are now controlled by Democrats and would make it easier for the GOP to hold onto the majority in the 2026 midterm elections.

Blue states are now scheming to redraw their maps to get rid of the few Republican-leaning districts.

Seven of New York’s 26 congressional districts are held by Republicans.

Ms. Hochul said that in order to redraw New York’s congressional districts sooner than 2034, the state Legislature must vote in two consecutive sessions to amend the constitution and then put the measure on a ballot for voters to decide.

“This could literally go on the ballot in the fall of ’27 and be enacted in time for the congressional races in 2028 as well as the presidential,” Ms. Hochul said.

She told reporters she’s also considering “litigation strategies” to redraw the congressional map even sooner.

As for the nonpartisan redistricting commission, Ms. Hochul and New York Assembly Speaker Carl E. Heastie said the state should get rid of it.

The commission was created in 2014 after New York voters approved it as a constitutional amendment.

Voters would eliminate the commission if given the opportunity to reconsider it, Democrats predicted.

“I think it’s difficult to ask New York, California and other democratic-learning states to play nonpartisan, while the Republicans play very partisan,” Mr. Heastie said.