Supreme Court stops decision to redraw Congressional District 11 map

The U.S. Supreme Court halted efforts to redraw the Congressional District 11 (CD 11) map March 2, marking a victory for U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis who has held the seat since 2021.

On Jan. 22, New York State Supreme Court Judge Jeffrey Pearlman ruled the CD 11 map to be redrawn after stating that it was unconstitutional.

The lawsuit was filed in Oct. 2025 by Elias Law Group on behalf of four voters, citing the district’s supposed dilution of Black and Latino votes.

However, Malliotakis’ attorneys filed appeals in the New York Appellate Division and its Court of Appeals. 

According to the New York Times, the court’s decision is temporary, but allowing the old map to remain in place as legal appeals continue likely means the map will be used during the election.

“Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to keep New York’s 11th Congressional District intact helps restore the public’s confidence in our judicial system and proves the challenge to our district lines was always meritless,” Malliotakis said. “The plaintiffs in this case attempted to manipulate our state’s courts to use race as a weapon to rig our elections. That was wrong and, as demonstrated by today’s ruling, clearly unconstitutional.”

The district includes Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn, including Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Bensonhurst.

The suit aimed to redraw the map to include lower Manhattan and Staten Island.

“Unfortunately, the politicization of New York’s courts and its judges necessitated action from the nation’s highest court,” Malliotakis said. “I thank the Justices who stopped the voters on Staten Island and in Southern Brooklyn from being stripped of their ability to elect a representative who reflects their values. Whether I serve another term in Congress is a decision for the voters, not Democrat party bosses and their high-priced lawyers.”

The lawsuit stated that, “CD-11’s antiquated boundaries instead confine Staten Island’s growing Black and Latino communities in a district where they are routinely and systematically unable to influence elections for their representative of choice, despite the existence of strongly racially polarized voting and a history of racial discrimination on Staten Island.”

“This blatantly political case violated both the New York State and federal constitutions and, as Justice Alito stated, the lower court’s decision was a full-blown racial gerrymander,” said NYGOP Chairperson Ed Cox. “The case was a disgrace. Even more disgraceful was the behavior of Governor Hochul, Attorney General James, Speaker Heastie and Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins. Hochul and the legislature enacted the redistricting plan in 2024 after having been first thwarted by our successful case against their partisan gerrymander, which violated the State Constitution.

“Instead of defending the law they enacted, Hochul, James, and the legislative leaders supinely allowed this case to move forward using as their instrument a partisan and conflicted Acting Supreme Court Justice.”

“Anyone who followed this case closely knows it was a partisan power grab from the start,” said Assemblymember Michael Tannousis. “A Hochul-appointed operative attempted to override the will of voters to benefit the Democratic Party and tilt the playing field in their favor. This was never about fairness or the people of SI and Brooklyn — it was about protecting Democrat power, period.”