Court expert draws more GOP-friendly New York political maps

By MICHELLE L. PRICE
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A court-appointed expert released a draft of new congressional maps for New York that are more favorable to Republicans than the original gerrymandered political maps drawn by Democrats. The draft maps released Monday would help the GOP by creating five districts that lean Republican and at least four other districts where Republicans would be competitive. Maps drawn up by the Democratically controlled state Legislature as part of the redistricting process occurring every 10 years would have given Democrats a strong majority in 22 of 26 congressional districts, starting with this year’s election. A New York court will take comment on the maps for two days before a final version is approved by a judge on May 20.