Major Change Coming To Long Island Congressional District Lines
SEAFORD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A proposed new Congressional district could mean major changes on Long Island.
The lines have been drawn and some voters are angry, CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported Tuesday.
You can the see the Bronx and Westchester from Nassau, but voters don't always see eye to eye.
"We don't need the Bronx and Rye, New York. They have no idea what Long Island does," one voter said.
Yet voters from Suffolk through Nassau, Queens and now parts of the Bronx and Westchester are being lumped into a newly drawn 3rd Congressional District.
"Whoever represents this district going forward is going to need either a boat or a bridge," former Congressman Steve Israel said.
READ MORE: See Proposed 2022 Redistricting Maps
READ MORE: See 2012 Congressional Redistricting Maps
The seat was once held by Israel, who said redistricting has always been weaponized.
"In red states when they take out Democrats, that requires blue states to say okay we are going to settle that score," Israel said.
The drastic change is leaving candidates running for the open seat in the new so-called "Sound Shore" district that crosses the Long Island Sound.
"My concern is ensuring that they get adequate and fair representation," said Melanie D'Arrigo, a candidate in the 3rd Congressional District.
"The people that live in the Bronx don't really have a vested interest here," a voter said.
Gerrymandering is a legal way to adjust districts to one party's advantage. It's a particularly heated now because of the close battle to control the House.
"The Republicans are doing this in states they control," political analyst Mike Dawidziak said.
Dawidziak said it's a shame the 1st Congressional District will meander from East End farms to dense Nassau.
"It's one of the true swing districts in the United States and for the very first time it's being gerrymandered to give the Democrats a better chance to win it," Dawidziak said.
FLASHBACK: Congressional Redistricting All But Finalized
Long Island's 2nd Congressional District will lean further right. Its former congressman, Peter King, said he hopes the whole map will be overturned in court.
"It's hard to satisfy the legitimate needs of your constituents, when there are so many different varied interests, conflicting interests, communities that have nothing to do with each other," King said.
Many other states have independent commissions, not lawmakers, draw the lines. New York did as well, and it held dozens of public hearings, but ended in a deadlock. So, the state Legislature will vote on the new map this week.
The new map gives 22 of New York's 26 congressional districts a Democratic enrollment advantage.
