Supreme court hands Republicans win over preserving New York City voting district

Supreme court hands Republicans win over preserving New York City voting district Ruling retains boundaries for 2026 elections despite state court ruling it was unfair to Black and Hispanic residents The supreme court on Monday sided with Republicans in ruling that the boundaries of the only GOP-held congressional district in New York City do not need to be redrawn for the 2026 elections, despite a court ruling that the district is unfair to Black and Hispanic residents. Over the dissent of the court’s three liberal justices, the conservative majority halted the state court ruling that had ordered New York’s redistricting commission to redraw the district held by Nicole Malliotakis that covers Staten Island and a small piece of Brooklyn. The outcome is a victory for Republicans in a national tug-of-war over redistricting that could determine control of the closely divided House of Representatives. Republicans currently hold a razor-thin majority. New York Republicans and the Trump administration had sought the high court’s intervention. Qualifying for congressional elections in New York began last week. A judge had ruled that the district was drawn in a way that dilutes the power of its Black and Hispanic voters and had ordered the state’s independent redistricting commission to complete a new map. The court did not explain its rationale, as is typical in emergency appeals. But Justice Samuel Alito wrote the judge’s ruling under New York’s constitution amounted to “unadorned racial discrimination” in violation of the US constitution. Justice Sonia Sotomayor objected to the supreme court’s decision to step into the case now, though she did not defend the ruling that has been challenged. “Time and again, this Court has said that federal courts should not meddle with state election laws ahead of an election ... Ignoring every limit on federal courts’ authority, the Court takes the unprecedented step of staying a state trial court’s decision in a redistricting dispute o...