Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - As New York lawmakers consider redistricting in a partisan effort to counter Texas Republican redistricting, a former Buffalo area State Senator remembers all too well the last time they did this.
In 2022, Ed Rath, a Republican, represented the 61st State Senate District, encompassing Amherst, Clarence, Newstead and Genesee County. Due to redistricting that year, the district was eliminated. Amherst was folded into an urban district with the City of Buffalo.
Rath lost to Democratic State Sen. Sean Ryan that fall in the new 61st district.
State Democrats that year ignored the recommendations of the Independent Redistricting Commission, imposing their own plan. The courts then intervened and forced a Special Master to redraw the maps, which is how Rath's district was eliminated.
There is currently a new proposal in Albany, Senate bill 8467, from seven New York City Democrats. It is a constitutional amendment that would essentially allow mid-decade redistricting.
The measure would require passage by the state legislature in two successive years, and it would go before voters after that. If approved, the earliest the state could take up redistricting is 2028.
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A frustrated Rath says this goes against a referendum in 2014 when voters agreed to eliminate gerrymandering and partisan politics from map drawing and adhere to the 10-year process in the state constitution. 58% of voters approved the referendum that was introduced that year by a bipartisan state legislature.
He adds it's disappointing to see what is happening today, calling it nothing other than partisan politics.
"This goes against our democracy and our constitution," said Rath with WBEN. "There's a reason why our founding fathers prioritized federalism which empowers each and every state to do what they need to do for their residents as well as checks and balances and an unbiased process. Right now all three of those things are being violated by Democrats in Albany. I say we put this to rest and adhere to the constitution."