Otsego, Schoharie could move entirely into 19th district

Feb. 15—Under a congressional redistricting plan unveiled Thursday, Otsego and Schoharie counties would move entirely into 19th U.S. House district, currently represented by Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro.

The local areas affected — roughly half of Otsego County not already in the 19th district and all of Schoharie County — are currently in the 21st district, represented by Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik.

The state's bipartisan redistricting commission approved the new congressional map Thursday.

Molinaro said in a statement Thursday that he believes it wasn't necessary to revisit the map.

"This process has dragged on way too long," he said. "Voters deserve clarity and this process needs to end."

Stefanik's office did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The map proposal now moves to the Democrat-dominated Legislature, which can approve the plan or reject it and draw its own lines. It's unclear exactly when lawmakers would meet to vote on the commission's map.

The governor then would need to sign the plan into law.

The commission was tasked with drawing and submitting election districts for Congress, after the state's highest court in December threw out the map used in the 2022 elections.

Democrats had sued to nix the old map after their party lost a handful of suburban seats in a series of bruising defeats that helped Republicans win a narrow House majority.

The panel's new map plan leaves the most of the current congressional districts largely in place, a move that could help head off legal challenges against the proposal.

It also could act to sooth at least some concerns from Republicans that the new plan would leave them with a radically gerrymandered playing field for the fall.

The most major change appears to be in the upstate district currently held by Republican Rep. Brandon Williams. The commission would shift the district, which is situated over Syracuse, to include the cities of Auburn and Cortland.

The other big adjustment would be in the district held by Democrat Rep. Pat Ryan. The plan would stretch Ryan's district north to include Woodstock.

The proposal leaves congressional boundaries on Long Island, where races are expected to be hotly contested, mostly unchanged, including the district formerly held by George Santos, who was expelled from Congress, and won this week by Democrat Tom Suozzi in a special election. New York City's lines also appeared largely unchanged.

"It was important for us not to enter into the process of confusing people out there over where they were going to vote," said redistricting commission Vice Chair Charles Nesbitt.

The Independent Redistricting Commission was created under a constitutional amendment approved by voters in 2014. The panel is made up of an equal number of Republicans and Democrats.

The Associated Press contributed information to this story.