A court released final maps for New York’s 26 congressional and 63 state Senate districts in the midnight hour on Saturday morning, setting in motion a flurry of campaign activity as candidates quickly jockeyed for position in critical seats.
The maps are not a drastic overhaul from drafts that threw the state’s elections into chaos on Monday and threatened Democrats’ hopes of picking up several House seats from Republicans in November.
But the new maps released early Saturday did immediately lead to some clarity for this year’s contests that resulted in an overnight shuffle that included: Buffalo Rep. Chris Jacobs, a Republican, declaring for a seat that looks like Republican Rep. Tom Reed’s old district across upstate New York; Rep. Claudia Tenney ,a Republican, announcing a run for Jacobs’ seat in Western New York, and Democratic Rep. Mondaire Jones joining what could be a massive field in New York City for an open seat well south of his current one.
The plan also left in place a largely Manhattan district that is expected to lead to a primary between well-tenured Democratic Reps. Jerry Nadler and Carolyn Maloney. The state’s primary is Aug. 23.
Democrats hold 19 of New York’s 27 seats, and now face the prospect of highly competitive primaries in seats that previously sparked little competition.