A court-appointed expert filed his plans for redistricting the New York State congressional maps Monday after the state Court of Appeals struck down Democrats’ previous plans. The change will now divide the 15th congressional district in the South Bronx.
Under the plan, the 15th congressional district—represented by Rep. Ritchie Torres—will now represent Mott Haven, Riverdale and several neighborhoods in the west and central Bronx. Hunts Point will now be included in the 14th congressional district, along with neighborhoods in the east Bronx and northern Brooklyn, represented by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Jonathan Cervas, a fellow at Carnegie Mellon University who was appointed as a neutral expert by an upstate judge, was authorized by the NYS Court of Appeals to redraw the map. He said the changes will allow for eight new competitive districts in the state. This map is set to be approved by the Supreme Court this week.
Torres’ office did not respond to requests for comment.
The proposed 15th congressional district will have a total population of around 777,000, with 586,000 individuals eligible to vote. This will also drop the Latino voting population from 64.1% to 53.5% and increase the white voting population from 2.7% to 10.4%.
New York Times election data also suggests the 15th congressional district will also become slightly more conservative, by 1.7 percentage points, while the 14th congressional district will be slightly more liberal, by 4.6 percentage points.
The new proposed 14th congressional district will have a total population of 776,971, with 613,637 eligible to vote. This change will slightly decrease the Latino population in the district, from 46.6% to 49.6%. It will also increase the Black population in the district from 8.6% to 16.1%
The 14th congressional district will see a dramatic drop of Asian eligible voters, from 19.2% to 11.5%.
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