There’s a growing bipartisan sense in top political circles in New York that the Congressional redistricting map released by a federal judge late last night represents the final lines for the 2012 cycle. Despite certain Democrats and Republicans pushing furiously for the Legislature to draw a map — one that creates a new majority-minority district in New York City or shores up Rep. Peter King (R) on Long Island or creates better districts for Reps. Kathy Hochul (D) and Chris Gibson (R) upstate — competing agendas make it more likely than not that the judge’s map will the final one. “At this point, I’d be surprised if something other than this is” the map, said one national Republican familiar with New York redistricting. That’s a sentiment plugged-in Empire State Democrats echoed in interviews with Roll Call. The map, viewable here (PDF), now goes to a federal three-judge panel for review. That panel will hold a hearing Thursday and decide soon thereafter if those lines will become law. A decision is expected Friday or, at the latest, Monday.
Candidate petitioning — the process by which candidates gather signatures to get on the ballot — is scheduled to begin in seven days, so candidates must know in which district they live by that time. The judicial panel has the ability to tweak the map, but two attorneys involved with the case said they expect this map to be the final product approved for the 2012 elections.
If the Republican-held state Senate and the Democratic-controlled state Assembly can come up with a Congressional map of their own in the next few days, there is a potential that Members might run under legislatively drawn lines this November. And those lines would be expected to be templated on the judge’s map.
Full Article: New York: Redistricting End Is Nigh | At the Races.