WASHINGTON, DC – Today, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries released the following statement in response to the new congressional map adopted by the New York State Legislature. 

"In 2022, the will of the people of New York State was undercut as a direct result of congressional lines that were drawn by an unelected, out-of-town Special Master appointed by an inexperienced, right-wing Steuben County judge who was handpicked by extreme, partisan activists. 

The Independent Redistricting Commission took a modest step toward addressing many of the inequitable flaws of the Special Master’s map that were clearly inconsistent with the New York State Constitution. However, the IRC’s work was incomplete. 

Today, the state legislature has adopted a bipartisan congressional map that more meaningfully delivers the type of fair representation that the people of New York State deserve.

This map reunites several communities of interest, reduces the number of counties, towns and villages that are split and promotes compact congressional districts. For these reasons, New Yorkers from every walk of life, race, region, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and ZIP code can now more fairly determine who should represent them in Congress. 

I commend the state legislature for drawing a fair and equitable congressional map. It is my hope that Governor Kathy Hochul, a champion for Democracy, will sign the congressional map into law."