Experts: Nassau lawsuit over legislature maps could start long court battle
Attorney Dave Mejias speaks Thursday on behalf of the Nassau County Democratic Committee and voters suing the county, the Republican-controlled legislature, and the county Board of Elections over new legislative maps adopted in February. Credit: Danielle Silverman
A lawsuit challenging Nassau County's 2023 legislative map may not impact elections this November but could begin a long court battle, as county Republicans on Thursday doubled down on assertions the process was fair and legal.
The Nassau County Democratic Committee and 20 voters are suing to overturn the county legislature's new district lines, alleging the map creates districts favoring Republican candidates, limits competition and dilutes the voting power of communities of color.
"The Republicans are trying to rig the upcoming election by gerrymandering the legislative districts to keep themselves in power," David L. Mejias, attorney for the plaintiffs, said at a news conference Thursday.
Nassau Republican Committee Chairman Joseph Cairo said in a statement: "The Nassau Legislative Districts that have been created are fair and competitive. What’s more, the districts comply with all applicable federal and state redistricting laws.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican, called the lines "fair, reasonable and in accordance with applicable law.”
Legislative Presiding Officer Richard Nicolello (R-New Hyde Park) said "the adopted maps incorporated feedback from the public’s testimony from over a dozen public hearings, while meeting all legal and constitutional standards, uniting communities of interest and ensuring equal representation for the residents of Nassau County.”
The 23-page suit, filed Wednesday night, asks the courts to void the new map for future elections.
"They are not seeking immediate relief to change the map this year and it's likely too late for this lawsuit to impact this year's election, given that [legislative] candidates have already qualified to run for office this year in the November elections," said Jeffrey M. Wice, a professor at New York Law School and redistricting expert.
"This could be the first step in what might be a lengthy judicial process because both sides are going to have to battle it out before a judge and this decision can go up to the state Court of Appeals," he added.
Wice said the lawsuit will test Nassau’s legislative map for the first time under the state’s 2021 Municipal Home Rule Law, which established strict criteria for counties enacting a redistricting plan.
"That includes barring partisan gerrymandering of drawing maps that favors or disfavors a political party or candidates and dilutes minority voting strength," Wice said.
Democrats say the map, adopted in February, "packs Democratic-leaning voters into District 2 and 3" and spreads out voters who live in communities with high concentrations of Democratic-leaning voters, "so as to dilute their voting strength."
The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, Hazel Scottie Coads, the NAACP's civic engagement chair for the New York State conference, said the map divides the mostly Black and Hispanic, 6,000-resident Lakeview community in Hempstead.
"The minority communities are going to be forever disenfranchised and not able to elect the representatives that we want. We have been in this fight for a long time," Coads said.
The lawsuit alleges the map "favors the Republican Party and disfavors the Democratic Party" by forcing two Democratic incumbents — Legis. Josh Lafazan (D-Syosset) and Legis. Arnold Drucker (D-Plainview) — to run against each other in one district while throwing no Republican incumbents together.
Plaintiffs also say the map illegally moves Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) from a solidly Democratic district to a Republican-leaning district. Abrahams announced his retirement shortly after the new map was adopted.
A panel comprised of five Republicans, five Democrats and a nonvoting, Republican chairman advanced two maps to the legislature for consideration because they could not agree on one.
Nassau's Republican majority proposed its own map, adopted by the county legislature Feb. 27 along party lines.
Republicans hold a 12-7 majority on the county legislature.
Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.
