Nassau Democrats bashed a newly submitted legislative map from Republican county legislators claiming it violates federal and state laws and exemplifies extreme partisan gerrymandering.
Under the GOP plan, Roslyn-area villages would once again be split into four separate legislative districts,
Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams said in a letter to Nicolello last week that his Democratic colleagues strongly objected to the maps of legislative districts pushed forward by the Republicans.
Abrahams said the proposal goes against parts of the federal Voting Rights Act and the John. R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York.
“As we have stated and demonstrated throughout this process, the members of the Democratic Minority Caucus will only support a map that adheres to all applicable local, state and federal laws,” Abrahams said. “The Minority delegation remains willing to cooperate, in a public and transparent manner, with the Majority in attempting to create a mutually agreeable map which meets all applicable legal standards and best serves the residents of Nassau County.”
Abrahams bashed the GOP proposal for “diluting the voting power of minority communities across” Nassau County, including having an “Asian-American influence district.” In 2010, Asian Americans made up 7.6 percent of Nassau’s population, which increased to 11.7 percent in 2020, according to data from the U.S. Census.
Democratic county Legislator Arnold Drucker, in a statement, expressed his displeasure with the proposal that splits Plainview and redraws the lines in his district.
“The current proposal is an extreme partisan gerrymander that carves apart Plainview and other communities across the 16th Legislative District,” Drucker said last week. “This is not about the political fate of one person over another – it is much more significant. This is a brazen attempt to dilute and render irrelevant the voices of all Democrats residing in the 16th District and it must not stand.”
The map was last redrawn in 2013. Democratic officials have chastised Republicans for their lack of transparency in developing the 2023 map. They contend that the Republican proposal allows officials to select their representatives rather than the public.
The county Legislature, comprised of 12 Republican officials and seven Democrats, was put in charge of reviewing maps, presented by he county’s Temporary Districting Advisory Commission, which split along party lines and failed to agree on a map of its own.
Commission Chairman Frank X. Moroney said in December that Democratic committee member David Mejias’ prediction of litigation was something he had heard from the start of the redistricting process.
Moroney said Republican officials asked the Democratic commission to work across the aisle, saying the Democrats “did not want to do that.”
“The only thing that happened here is that the Republicans of Nassau County have guaranteed litigation over an illegal map,” Mejias said in December. “If and when they lose, it’s going to cost the taxpayers millions of dollars.”
New district lines are required to be adopted by the county Legislature in March, officials said.
Under the GOP plan, the villages of Roslyn, Roslyn Harbor and parts of Glenwood Landing are included in the 11th District, with Greenvale, East Hills and other parts of Glenwood Landing in the 18th District, Roslyn Estates in the 10th District and parts of Roslyn Heights in the 9th District.
The 9th District population will increase by 1,160 residents, the 10th District will increase by 780, the 18th District will increase by 709, but the 11th District population will decrease by 246, according to data released by the Legislature. The 9th District’s population increase is the second-largest under the newly drawn map, with 18 fewer residents than the 2nd District.
Nassau County Legislature Presiding Officer Rich Nicolello is the 9th District legislator, the 10th District is represented by Republican Legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip, the 11th District is represented by Democrat Delia DeRiggi-Whitton and the 18th District is represented by Josh Lafazan, who ran in this past year’s Democratic Primary for the state’s 3rd Congressional District.
The proposal would push Lafazan into the 16th Legislative District, represented by Drucker.
The legislature’s Feb. 27 meeting will be a public hearing of the recently proposed map and a vote on the most recent proposal, according to county officials.