Fate of Nassau County's legislative maps to be decided in court, with start of trial this week
People look over proposed legislative maps at a November 2022 public hearing held by the Temporary Districting Advisory Commission, a sub-committee of the Nassau County Legislature charged with redrawing the legislative maps. Credit: John Roca
A pair of lawsuits that will determine whether Nassau County's hotly debated legislative maps will remain in place are set to go to trial on Tuesday in a White Plains courtroom.
The lawsuits, filed by county Democrats, community groups and registered voters, seek to overturn the redistricting map in place since February 2023.
The outcome could upend the upcoming 2025 county legislative races and alter candidates' campaign strategies. The GOP-drawn district lines were used in last year's county elections, resulting in new representation for thousands of Nassau residents while maintaining the 12-7 Republican majority in the Nassau legislature.
The legal challenges — the first made against any New York county redistricting map under new state voting laws — allege the 2023 map weakens the influence of Black, Latino and Asian voters by creating partisan gerrymandered districts that divide communities and favor Republican candidates. According to redistricting rules, so-called "communities of interest" are recommended to stay in one district.
Republicans have long pushed back, saying the redistricting process creates "fair-fight districts," and they've unsuccessfully tried to get the lawsuits dismissed.
New York Law School professor Jeffrey Wice said the lawsuits are the "greatest challenges" to the county's voting districts since a 1994 suit resulted in the creation of the Nassau County Legislature.
"Both plaintiff groups have invested heavily, as has the county, to support or attack each other’s positions," said Wice, who has followed redistricting in Nassau County for about 40 years. "It will come down to whether the map impermissibly dilutes minority voting strength or whether it unjustifiably favors one political party or candidate over another."
Democrats have an enrollment edge in Nassau and are seeking a new map that includes six majority-minority districts and an Asian-majority district in the western section of the county.
Every 10 years, after the latest U.S. Census count, legislative boundaries must be redrawn to reflect population changes, the new makeup of communities, voting trends and the performance of political parties in past election cycles. In Nassau, the redistricting process began in September 2022 by a bipartisan panel tasked to create 19 districts, each with about 72,500 residents.
After failing to agree on a single boundaries map, the panel advanced two maps to the county legislature — one created by Democrats and another by Republicans.
The legislature rejected both maps and, after some changes, Nassau's Republican majority adopted their own map in a 12-7 party-line vote Feb. 27, 2023.
The Nassau County Democratic Committee and 20 voters filed the first lawsuit in July 2023, arguing the map favors Republican candidates, limits competition and dilutes the voting power of communities of color, in violation of the state's 2021 Municipal Home Rule Law, which established strict criteria for counties enacting a redistricting plan.
"We are fighting for fair elections so that voters pick their representatives instead of politicians picking their voters," said David Mejias, attorney representing the Nassau Democrats.
According to the lawsuit, the map illegally moved then-Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) from a solidly Democratic district to a Republican-leaning district. Abrahams announced he would not seek reelection to the legislature shortly after the new map was adopted in early 2023.
They also claim the map "favors the Republican Party and disfavors the Democratic Party," citing a race between 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.
Lafazan lost to first-time candidate Republican Samantha Goetz in November 2023.
In a recent interview, Lafazan told Newsday he believes he lost his reelection bid because his hometown of Syosset was removed from his district in 2023.
"I have represented Syosset since I ran for the school board at 18 — it is the only place I've ever called home, and I've never lost a general election when my Syosset neighbors could vote for me. Quite frankly, given the high taxes we pay, my neighbors were outraged to see our hometown being used as a cudgel for political purposes," Lafazan said.
He said he is hopeful the courts will void the map, and he has supported the legal fight by hosting an event at his home in August to raise money for the trial. He said he would consider running in 2025 depending on the court's ruling.
The second lawsuit, filed in February 2024 by New York Communities for Change, alleges the redistricting plan "dilutes the voting strength of Black, Latino and Asian communities" and the districts were drawn "with the intent to favor Republicans."
"We want to see a fair and equitable map that respects the voting rights and electoral power of Nassau's communities of color and does not favor any political party," said Perry Grossman, of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the plaintiffs in the second case.
They also sued the county for access to the documents, formulas and experts' testimony to prove Republican legislators adopted a map that would ensure their majority control of the legislature, according to court documents.
Mary Studdert, spokeswoman for the legislature's Republican majority, said the adopted map incorporated many of the comments and suggestions made by the public and minority Democrats throughout the entire redistricting process.
"The map adopted by the Legislature complies with all applicable federal and state law — the United States Constitution, the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, the New York State Constitution and New York State law," Studdert said.
Among the communities impacted was Lakeview, home to 6,000 residents. Primarily Black and Latino, the residents were put into a district with the white communities of Lynbrook, Malverne and East Rockaway and are now represented by longtime Republican Legis. C. William Gaylor III of Lynbrook.
Lisa Ortiz, president of the Lakeview Civic Association, said while they may see benefits of being represented by a member of the Republican majority, they do not always feel welcome by groups in their new district.
"We spend more time going into communities where our friends and family are," said Ortiz, referring to the neighboring Hempstead, Roosevelt, Freeport and Baldwin communities with whom they formerly shared a district and common interests, making them more politically powerful.
"Malverne, Lynbrook or East Rockaway — those communities haven’t always welcomed us, or wanted our business over there — or wanted us over there, period," Ortiz said.
A pair of lawsuits that will determine whether Nassau County's hotly debated legislative maps will remain in place are set to go to trial on Tuesday in a White Plains courtroom.
The lawsuits, filed by county Democrats, community groups and registered voters, seek to overturn the redistricting map in place since February 2023.
The outcome could upend the upcoming 2025 county legislative races and alter candidates' campaign strategies. The GOP-drawn district lines were used in last year's county elections, resulting in new representation for thousands of Nassau residents while maintaining the 12-7 Republican majority in the Nassau legislature.
The legal challenges — the first made against any New York county redistricting map under new state voting laws — allege the 2023 map weakens the influence of Black, Latino and Asian voters by creating partisan gerrymandered districts that divide communities and favor Republican candidates. According to redistricting rules, so-called "communities of interest" are recommended to stay in one district.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- A pair of lawsuits that will determine whether Nassau County's hotly debated legislative maps will remain in place are set to go to trial.
- The lawsuits, filed by county Democrats, community groups and registered voters, seek to overturn the redistricting map in place since February 2023.
- The legal challenges — the first made against any New York county redistricting map under new state voting laws — allege the 2023 map weakens the influence of Black, Latino and Asian voters.
Republicans have long pushed back, saying the redistricting process creates "fair-fight districts," and they've unsuccessfully tried to get the lawsuits dismissed.
New York Law School professor Jeffrey Wice said the lawsuits are the "greatest challenges" to the county's voting districts since a 1994 suit resulted in the creation of the Nassau County Legislature.
"Both plaintiff groups have invested heavily, as has the county, to support or attack each other’s positions," said Wice, who has followed redistricting in Nassau County for about 40 years. "It will come down to whether the map impermissibly dilutes minority voting strength or whether it unjustifiably favors one political party or candidate over another."
Democrats have an enrollment edge in Nassau and are seeking a new map that includes six majority-minority districts and an Asian-majority district in the western section of the county.
Every 10 years, after the latest U.S. Census count, legislative boundaries must be redrawn to reflect population changes, the new makeup of communities, voting trends and the performance of political parties in past election cycles. In Nassau, the redistricting process began in September 2022 by a bipartisan panel tasked to create 19 districts, each with about 72,500 residents.
After failing to agree on a single boundaries map, the panel advanced two maps to the county legislature — one created by Democrats and another by Republicans.
The legislature rejected both maps and, after some changes, Nassau's Republican majority adopted their own map in a 12-7 party-line vote Feb. 27, 2023.
See the full map at https://nycounty.redistrictingandyou.org
The Nassau County Democratic Committee and 20 voters filed the first lawsuit in July 2023, arguing the map favors Republican candidates, limits competition and dilutes the voting power of communities of color, in violation of the state's 2021 Municipal Home Rule Law, which established strict criteria for counties enacting a redistricting plan.
"We are fighting for fair elections so that voters pick their representatives instead of politicians picking their voters," said David Mejias, attorney representing the Nassau Democrats.
According to the lawsuit, the map illegally moved then-Minority Leader Kevan Abrahams (D-Freeport) from a solidly Democratic district to a Republican-leaning district. Abrahams announced he would not seek reelection to the legislature shortly after the new map was adopted in early 2023.
They also claim the map "favors the Republican Party and disfavors the Democratic Party," citing a race between 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.
Lafazan lost to first-time candidate Republican Samantha Goetz in November 2023.
In a recent interview, Lafazan told Newsday he believes he lost his reelection bid because his hometown of Syosset was removed from his district in 2023.
"I have represented Syosset since I ran for the school board at 18 — it is the only place I've ever called home, and I've never lost a general election when my Syosset neighbors could vote for me. Quite frankly, given the high taxes we pay, my neighbors were outraged to see our hometown being used as a cudgel for political purposes," Lafazan said.
He said he is hopeful the courts will void the map, and he has supported the legal fight by hosting an event at his home in August to raise money for the trial. He said he would consider running in 2025 depending on the court's ruling.
The second lawsuit, filed in February 2024 by New York Communities for Change, alleges the redistricting plan "dilutes the voting strength of Black, Latino and Asian communities" and the districts were drawn "with the intent to favor Republicans."
"We want to see a fair and equitable map that respects the voting rights and electoral power of Nassau's communities of color and does not favor any political party," said Perry Grossman, of the New York Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the plaintiffs in the second case.
They also sued the county for access to the documents, formulas and experts' testimony to prove Republican legislators adopted a map that would ensure their majority control of the legislature, according to court documents.
Mary Studdert, spokeswoman for the legislature's Republican majority, said the adopted map incorporated many of the comments and suggestions made by the public and minority Democrats throughout the entire redistricting process.
"The map adopted by the Legislature complies with all applicable federal and state law — the United States Constitution, the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, the New York State Constitution and New York State law," Studdert said.
Among the communities impacted was Lakeview, home to 6,000 residents. Primarily Black and Latino, the residents were put into a district with the white communities of Lynbrook, Malverne and East Rockaway and are now represented by longtime Republican Legis. C. William Gaylor III of Lynbrook.
Lisa Ortiz, president of the Lakeview Civic Association, said while they may see benefits of being represented by a member of the Republican majority, they do not always feel welcome by groups in their new district.
"We spend more time going into communities where our friends and family are," said Ortiz, referring to the neighboring Hempstead, Roosevelt, Freeport and Baldwin communities with whom they formerly shared a district and common interests, making them more politically powerful.
"Malverne, Lynbrook or East Rockaway — those communities haven’t always welcomed us, or wanted our business over there — or wanted us over there, period," Ortiz said.
Candice Ferrette covers Nassau County government and politics on Long Island. She has been a reporter at Newsday since 2011.
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Newsday Live Music Series: Long Island Idols Newsday Live presents a special evening of music and conversation with local singers who grabbed the national spotlight on shows like "The Voice," "America's Got Talent,""The X-Factor" and "American Idol." Newsday Senior Lifestyle Host Elisa DiStefano leads a discussion and audience Q&A as the singers discuss their TV experiences, careers and perform original songs.
