By Mark Scott
Albany, NY – The state Legislature is buying more time to draw new congressional district lines and avoid having them imposed by a federal special master.
The state Assembly and Senate each approved a bill Monday night that delays by two weeks the petition signature-gathering process by congressional candidates seeking to qualify for the ballot this year. This, as state leaders continue working on their own redistricting plan.
New York lost two of its congressional districts because of population losses in the 2000 census. The process of choosing which districts to eliminate has been especially difficult.
First, a federally-appointed "master" drafted a plan that would place Western New York incumbents Jack Quinn and John LaFalce in the same district. But some of the nation's top Republicans were concerned that one of their up and coming stars, Congressman Tom Reynolds, would also be at risk. So, pressure was put on state legislative leaders to agree on their own plan that, in part, would protect Reynolds.
They came up with one that would eliminate Democrat Louise Slaughter's Rochester district, making her run against John LaFalce, while a second district in New York's Hudson Valley would be dropped. Monday, Slaughter voiced her opposition to the plan.
"Whatever happens, I am going to fight to the very, very last breath," Slaughter said. "If it is at all humanly possible when they finally draw these lines for me to run in any of these districts, I will do it for the benefit of this community and the people who come after me."
But if the intention is to protect Reynolds from a stiff re-election challenge so that he can help other Republicans get elected to Congress, Slaughter may have thrown cold water on that as well. She said Monday that she would consider running against Reynolds rather than LaFalce.