US Representative Joe Morrell (D-NY) looks on during a press conference about the Save America Act at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on March 17, 2026.
Heather Diehl | getty images
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced Monday that he is deploying Rep. Joe Morrell this week to meet with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and state legislators about mid-decade redistricting in the state.
Jeffries and Morell, both New York Democrats, said in a joint statement that the effort is a response to last week’s Supreme Court decision striking down a section of the House. Voting Rights ActA landmark civil rights law of 1965 that prohibits discrimination in voting. The 6-3 decision struck down a majority black, Democrat-held district in Louisiana. And it could lead to the existence of similar districts in many Republican-led states before the 2026 midterm elections.
“While far-right extremists have twice recklessly cleared the way for partisan gerrymandering of the Supreme Court, Democrats have refused to unilaterally disarm,” Jefferies said. “This is just the beginning. Across the country, we will sue, we will rebuild, and we will win. House Democrats will not allow us to build a MAGA majority based on rigged maps and weakening Black voting power.”
Morrell is the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, which has jurisdiction over federal elections, and is the former majority leader of the New York State Assembly. He will meet with Hochul, also a Democrat, and other state leaders on Tuesday.
New York has 26 congressional districts, of which only three Cook Political Report with Amy Walter Rates are competitive in their current configuration. Republicans hold 10 state seats, while Democrats hold 16.
Jeffries did not say how many seats Democrats would aim to gain under the initiative he called the “New York Democracy Project.”
States typically redraw House district lines following the national census every 10 years.
But as Republicans weigh a tough midterm election, the House majority is too narrow to defend and strong anti-establishment sentiment is growing, President Donald Trump said last summer. Texas Republicans began urging Redrawing state congressional districts.
The GOP-led Texas legislature agreed.Creating new maps that could give Republicans five additional seats, and trigger tit-for-tat redistricting in mid-decade. democrats in california Through its own efforts, other states – such as Ohio, North Carolina, Missouri, Ohio and Virginia – also entered the fray.
With six months left until Election Day, the race to gerrymander House districts isn’t slowing down. On Monday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed newly drawn up maps that could result in a number of four additional GOP seats. And immediately after the Supreme Court decision, leaders came in Southern states like Alabama and Louisiana Vowed to quickly revise their congressional districts.
Democrats have in the past opposed gerrymandering a party platform, introduce legislation This would require independent commissions to redraw congressional districts. But he has also repeatedly raised concerns about Trump’s alleged efforts to undermine elections and has opted to try to negate GOP redistricting efforts, even if some will be too slow for this year’s midterms.
Jeffries told Politico It was said in April that states such as Illinois, Maryland and New York could be Democratic targets for mid-decade reapportionment ahead of the 2028 presidential elections.
There is an explicit ban on mid-decade redistricting in New York. One lawmaker, state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, whom Morrell will meet with on Tuesday introduced legislation This will amend the state constitution and pave the way for off-cycle rescheduling.
“As Donald Trump and his Republican allies ramp up highly partisan redistricting efforts, I am proud to be assigned by Leader Jeffries to work with partners in New York to explore every option to protect voters in 2026, 2028 and beyond,” Morrell said in the joint statement. “We will not allow these efforts to silence communities or undermine fair representation. We will fight, we will win, and we will protect the voices of voters.”