This week- GOP State Election Commissioners Seek Judge’s Recusal In Congressional Map Challenge; NYC Council To Elect CM Julie Menin as New Speaker, Preparing to Pass Census Office Legislation; Democrats Make Gains in Local Elections; Around the Nation: Texas
REDISTRICTING LITIGATION
Congressional Redistricting
Williams et. al v. New York State Board of Elections et. al
On October 27, a complaint was filed in New York County State Supreme Court asking that the state legislature create a new district that includes Black and Latino residents of Staten Island and parts of lower Manhattan.
On November 26, respondents filed a memorandum of law in support of their recusal motion, urging the recusal of Judge Jeffrey Pearlman. Respondents point to Judge Pearlman’s recent professional, social, and political ties to six of the respondents. These ties include representing Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins in election law matters and working as her Chief of Staff and working as Governor Hochul’s Chief of Staff and representing the Governor as special counsel.
Respondents argue that recusal is required based on the mere appearance of partiality, that an ordinary person would reasonably question impartiality, and because of Judge’s representation of Governor Hochul during the enactment of the New York Voting Rights Act (NYVRA).
Respondents further argue that these are not distant or fleeting associations, but rather substantial and directly relevant to the political issues before the Court. Respondents also argue that while it is unknown whether Judge Pearlman specifically advised Governor Hochul or her staff on the NYVRA, Judge Pearlman’s representation of Governor Hochul at the time NYVRA was signed into law creates an appearance of impropriety.
ELECTIONS
Democrats Make Gains In Local Elections
In a review of 268 local county, town, and city elections held last month, Politico’s Bill Mahoney looked at how well Democratic candidates fared across the state.
While Republicans swept most of Nassau County, including the town boards in Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay along the city councils in Long Beach and Glen Cove, Democrats picked up one county legislative district, denying the GOP a supermajority.
According to Mahoney, “Democrats… flipped mayoral or supervisor offices in places like Tonawanda, Oneonta, Monroe, Rensselaer, Johnson City and Riverhead.
“All told, there were 118 municipal executive races outside of New York City this year that were contested in either 2021 or 2023. The number of ballots cast for Democrats grew from 1.3 million to 1.6 million, a 22 percent increase. The number for Republicans grew 1 percent to 1.6 million.”
Democrats made gains in 18 counties, picking up 50 county legislative seats. According to Mahoney, in “Oswego County, which Trump won by 27 points in 2024. They picked up five in Ulster by making inroads in towns that have been Republican for generations, winning their largest majority in county history. And they flipped five in Onondaga and gained their first majority there since the 1970s.”
Syracuse elected Sharon Owens as the new mayor, the first Democrat in 12 years. Democrats also made gains in placed where the party’s candidates hadn’t won town office in decades, including in Rochester’s Perinton township where a Democrat had not been elected since the Civil War.
UPCOMING EVENTS
There are no upcoming events.
VOTING RIGHTS ACT
N.Y. Attorney General’s Office Preclearance
There was no preclearance activity in the past week.
All submissions can be viewed at: https://nyvra-portal.ag.ny.gov/
CENSUS
N.Y.C. Council to Consider Census Office Bill Sponsored by Council Member Julie Menin Who Announced She Has Votes to be Next Speaker
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin (D-New York) announced last week that she has the support of a majority of the members to become the City Council’s next Speaker in January, Menin served as director of the city’s Census 2020 office and oversaw a $40 million effort resulting in an increase by 629,057 residents between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, growing by 7.7% to a total of 8,804,190. This was the second-largest numeric increase in the city’s history over a decade.
The New York City Council is expected to take up and vote on Council Member Julie Menin’s legislation to create a city Census Office on Thursday, December 4th. The bill (Intro. 1225-A) would establish an office of the census tasked with maximizing local participation in the federal decennial census. The work of the office would only occur during the term of the office’s director, which starts between two and half and two years before the decennial census, and ends no later than six months after the decennial census.
A majority of the Council members are co-sponsoring CM Menin’s bill, including Members Avilés, Dinowitz, Feliz, Brooks-Powers, Banks, Louis, Schulman, Abreu, Cabán, Gennaro, Zhuang, Ung, Hanif, Narcisse, Nurse, Hanks, Ayala, Marte, Moya, Gutiérrez, Joseph, Lee, Powers, Ossé, Won, Williams, Mealy, Brewer, Hudson, Stevens, Sanchez, Riley, Krishnan, Bottcher and the Public Advocate (Williams).
According to the accompanying legislative bill memo, the director of the city census office would “serve as a liaison between City and regional offices; identify hard to count areas, populations, and community leaders; carry out multilingual public awareness campaigns; and work with community leaders to promote awareness.”
In 2026, the Senate and Assembly are expected to consider similar census legislation to create a state census office and a New York State Counts Commission. The legislation (A.4864/S.6898) is being sponsored in the Assembly by Assembly Members Michaelle Solages (D-Nassau) and Landon Dais (D- The Bronx) along with 15 colleagues. In the Senate, sponsors include Senators Jeremy Cooney (D- Monroe), Leroy Comrie (D-Queens) and Robert Jackson (D-New York).
AROUND THE NATION
Texas: League of United Latin American Citizens v. Greg Abbott
The November 18th U.S District Court for the Western District of Texas decision to block Texas from using new congressional maps for the 2026 midterm elections has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court where a temporary stay has been granted by Justice Samuel Alito. A decision on continuing the stay and further action is expected any time.
Indiana: Following pressure from President Trump and threats against several legislators, the Indiana Legislature will meet in December to see if the votes are there to gerrymander two Democratic Members of Congress out of their seats.
Looking Back: On This Day on December 1, 1824: The House of Representatives begins discussions to decide the outcome of the presidential election deadlock between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Neither candidate had won a majority of the electoral vote. (H/T to O’Donnell and Associates)
INSTITUTE RESOURCE
The New York Elections, Census and Redistricting Institute has archived many resources for the public to view on our Digital Commons Page.
Our Redistricting Resources page contains resources on the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act. You can access the page here: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/redistricting_resources/
Archived Updates can be accessed here: https://digitalcommons.nyls.edu/redistricting_roundtable_updates/
Please share this weekly update with your colleagues. To be added to the mailing list, please contact Jeffrey.wice@nyls.edu
The N.Y. Elections, Census & Redistricting Institute is supported by grants from the New York Community Trust, New York Census Equity Fund, the Mellon Foundation, and the New York City Council. This report was prepared by Jeff Wice and Esha Shah.