Appeals court green lights effort to redraw U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis' district | amNewYork

"The state Appellate Division, First Department cleared the way on Thursday for the New York State Board of Election to begin reconfiguring U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis' Congressional district. The decision comes a week after lawyers for Malliotakis New York City's only Republican member of Congress asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in the order to reconfigure her district a process that would most likely be unfavorable to her midterm reelection campaign."

"In her legal effort to stop the redistricting, Mallitokais also filed an appeal in state court. As that appeal worked its way through the court system, the actual work of redrawing the map was automatically paused. The First Department's ruling Thursday lifted the stay on that process, which could compel the state's Independent Redistricting Commission to begin meeting to work on a map."

"In their filing to the U.S. Supreme Court, Malliotakis' attorneys argued that the state courts will be too slow to respond before the formal start of this year's primary process on Feb. 24, and would cause irreparable harm. A GOP spokesperson said that Malliotakis is not at present attempting to take the matter before the New York Court of Appeals."

"The matter now lies with the U.S. Supreme Court, wrote NYGOP Chair Ed Cox about the decision. As expected, the First Department of the Appellate Division has refused to issue a stay regarding the NY-11 litigation. This is no surprise given how Governor Hochul and Albany Democrats have thoroughly politicized New York's courts. This is a developing story, check back for updates."

The Appellate Division, First Department lifted a stay that had paused reconfiguration of U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis' congressional district, enabling the New York State Board of Elections and the Independent Redistricting Commission to resume map work. Malliotakis filed a state court appeal and her lawyers asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene, arguing that state courts would be too slow before the Feb. 24 primary and that delay would cause irreparable harm. The earlier appeal had automatically paused map implementation, but the First Department's ruling now permits the reconfiguration process to proceed. The NYGOP said the matter now lies with the U.S. Supreme Court and criticized politicization of New York courts.

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