The New York State legislature Wednesday finalized new Congressional lines for the 2024 races, clearing the way for petitioning for the June primaries that started on Tuesday.
Here’s a look at what would be changed in our local congressional districts if the maps are signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul, according to Politico:
The bipartisan commission had initially split Orange County, moving a portion of it from Representative Pat Ryan’s district to the nearby one held by Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro. The Legislature’s lines keep Orange County entirely in Ryan’s district.
Most of the other changes aren’t different from the lines that were used to 2022. Most of the other changes to Ryan’s district would involve swapping towns in Ulster County with Molinaro’s seat.
Ryan’s seat would lose the blue-friendly towns of Marbletown and Rosendale and gain the blue-trending Saugerties and the deep-blue Woodstock. Molinaro would gain the Republican-friendly town of Shawangunk and gain the Republican-friendly town of Ulster.
Molinaro’s district underwent the most significant changes. But even those didn’t dramatically change the electoral math.
In addition to the swaps with Ryan in Ulster County, Molinaro’s district would drop Tioga County and parts of Cortland County to districts to his west. It would pick up parts of Rensselaer and Otsego counties from Rep. Elise Stefanik.
Yet even after all that, the numbers are basically the same. Molinaro won in 2022 in a 52.3 percent Biden district; it would be a 52.2 percent Biden district.
Image: New York State Capitol/ NYSenate.org