Later this month, the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, will hear arguments in a case that could see New York’s congressional district lines thrown out.
Lee Zeldin, the former congressman who was the 2022 GOP gubernatorial nominee, told Capital Tonight that the court is “getting used” and that “on the merit, clear as day, the lines we currently have should stay.”
In a wide-ranging interview with Capital Tonight, the former Long Island congressman said that the district lines drawn by a special master before the 2022 elections were “fair” and argues that the Court of Appeals should reject a challenge to those lines to “protect” the court, its integrity, the will of New Yorkers and the Constitution.
The current process of redistricting was approved via constitutional amendment by New York voters in 2014. An Independent Redistricting Commission is made up of 10 members, eight chosen by legislative leaders and the remaining two selected by the other eight members. The commission draws up the maps and submits them to the Legislature for approval. If two sets of maps are not approved by the commission, then the Legislature, itself, can draw the lines.
Zeldin joined Capital Tonight Friday after rallying for Republican candidates for local office in the Capital Region, including Schenectady mayoral candidate Matt Nelligan. The upcoming election on Nov. 7 will feature races for county executives and other local races, as well as two proposed constitutional amendments. The two questions relating to school and sewage debt are not “controversial,” according to Zeldin, who expects both proposals to pass.
After a chaotic three weeks, the House of Representatives was able to elect a new speaker in Louisiana’s Mike Johnson. Zeldin, who served three terms with Johnson, said the newly minted speaker is “eager” and “someone you can grab a beer with,” adding “he’s also very serious.”
The new speaker faces a number of important crises and deadlines as he gets set into his new office, including two major international wars and a looming government funding deadline. Speaker Johnson has separated funding for the war efforts in Israel and in Ukraine, which Zeldin says he “strongly” agrees with. Zeldin argues there are questions about the ultimate “endgame” in the Ukraine war that don’t necessarily exist in the Israeli effort.
Johnson’s job is made more difficult by the razor thin majority of five that the Republicans currently hold in the House of Representatives, which means every vote counts. That majority nearly got smaller after a group of New York Republicans put forward a motion to expel Long Island Republican Rep. George Santos from office due to discrepancies in his record and criminal charges he faces.
While Santos survived the expulsion vote, Zeldin says if he were in Santos’ position, he’d resign and adds “it’s up to him to decide, at this point, whether or not he’s gonna stay for the remainder of his term.”
Santos has declared his intention to run for re-election in 2024 but Zeldin says “there’s a good chance” that there is a new member for that district when the new term starts in January 2025.