New York court throws out congressional maps in blow to Republicans that could have national consequences in 2024

A New York court decided to allow the state's Democrat-run legislature to draw up its congressional maps  - in one could be a momentous blow to the House's Republican majority. 

In 2022, the path to victory for Republicans ran straight through New York - they flipped four seats in the typically blue state. Democrats need a net five seats to take back the House next cycle. 

The seven-judge panel's decision follows a nearly two-year court battle over the Empire State map. 

Republicans were already expected to fight an uphill battle to hold on to the seat vacated by Rep. George Santos' expulsion. 

In a 4-3 opinion issued Tuesday, the court ordered the state's redistricting commission to draw a new map by February 28, 2024. The state's liberal legislature has final say over the map - and Republicans have warned that Democrats will gerrymander. 

Rep. Mike Lawler, one of four Republicans who flipped blue seats in 2022 

Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., another freshman who flipped a blue seat in the Empire State 

'We are disappointed but not surprised by the Court's decision to allow Democrats a second attempt at gerrymandering the maps,' Savannah Viar, spokeswoman for the NRCC, House Republicans' campaign arm, said in a statement. 'Instead of focusing on policies that appeal to everyday voters, Democrats are trying to cheat their way to power.'  

The state's Independent Redistricting Commission deadlocked last year and the legislature stepped in to draw up its own map. The Democratic-controlled legislature devised a map so favorable to Democrats that it was thrown out by a state court and replaced by a court-drawn map. 

'The decision today opens the door for Democrats to rig our Congressional district lines so that elections are not decided by voters, but politicians in a back room,' Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and state GOP chair Ed Cox said in a statement.  

Democrats, meanwhile, celebrated the map. 

'We are eager for the Independent Redistricting Commission to get back to work to create a new, fair congressional map — through the process New York voters intended,' said Susan DelBene, chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.