ALBANY, N.Y. (WTEN) -- Congressional candidates now know for sure which districts they will be running for now that the map has made it through both houses of the state legislature. This comes after the Independent Redistrict Committee’s map was voted down on Monday by Democrats who claimed in part that it illegally provided incumbent protection.
Assemblyman Charles Lavine says this new map is better.
"We exercised fairness," said Assemblyman Lavine. "And that’s the inherent and essential ingredient for democracy. The maps that were proposed by the IRC were not that terribly bad. The ones we finally adopted today made improvements on the IRC’s plan, minor improvements, and those will be for the benefit of the voters of every congressional district in the State of New York."
The governor signed a Message of Necessity in order for a vote to happen since the map legislation did not age for three days. She also signed one allowing lawmakers to vote on a bill changing the petition date for Congressional candidates to Thursday. That passed as well.
"There is no doubt in my mind the Democrats feel this map is better for Democrats," said Senate Minority Leader Rob Ortt. "But I know I’ve spoken to many of my members in Congress who do think this is not a terrible map for Republicans. So it’s not so much about the outcome I think for our conference, and more about how we got here."
Hochul signed the legislation Wednesday evening.