After the Court of Appeals threw out statewide Democrats’ congressional gerrymander and ordered an upstate court to draw new maps, Republican candidates won 11 of 26 seats in 2022.

Now, following Gov. Kathy Hochul’s appointment of a new chief judge early last year, the newly composed court sided with Democrats, ordering the bipartisan Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) to restart the process, six months before the 2024 general elections.

The decision, issued last month from New York’s highest court, has far-reaching implications that will impact the battle for control over the House of Representatives. Republicans, who hold a razor-thin majority in the House, have experienced a tumultuous term, from the historic removal of Kevin McCarthy from the speakership to trouble containing the most conservative members of their conference.

Locally, further redistricting is expected to shake up the race for the 19th Congressional district, which currently includes Binghamton, Ithaca and Cortland and stretches to the Massachusetts border on the east. In 2022, Rep. Marc Molinaro, a Republican, narrowly defeated Democrat Josh Riley, winning 50.8 percent of the vote.

“I think voters are tired in New York of having to go through a redistricting process, as we have multiple times this last year, that just want it to come to a close,” Molinaro said at a press conference after the court’s ruling. “I want competitive districts that reflect the interests, the communities of commonality and the diversity that exists in upstate New York.”

Over the last two decades, voters have passed several redistricting reforms, including one in 2014, which took redistricting authority away from the State Legislature and vested it in a 10-member commission composed of four Democrats, four Republicans and two unaffiliated with either party. Following the 2020 Census, the IRC deadlocked and the legislature’s Democratic majority passed a law granting the body power to draw new maps.

The initial maps, projected to award Republicans four seats, were then criticized by legal and political experts for their overt partisanship. An upstate court drew the district lines used in 2022, though lawsuits remained. The court’s majority opinion said that constitutional requirements superseded court-mandated ones.

“In 2014, the voters of New York amended our Constitution to provide that legislative districts be drawn by an [IRC],” Chief Judge Rowan Wilson wrote. “The Constitution demands that process, not districts drawn by courts. Nevertheless, the IRC failed to discharge its constitutional duty. That dereliction is undisputed. The Appellate Division concluded that the IRC can be compelled to reconvene to fulfill that duty — we agree.”

With a slim majority in the House, Republican leaders have relied on Democratic votes to pass legislation funding the government. Their functional numbers have shrunk further after the expulsion of George Santos, McCarthy’s retirement, resignations and medical leave.

Riley, running against Molinaro again, emphasized his platform, not mentioning the court’s ruling.

“I’m running for Congress because upstate New Yorkers deserve a representative who fights for them, not the extremists and special interests,” Riley wrote in an email. “Someone who will strengthen the middle class, protect Social Security, keep our communities safe and defend a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions. That’s what I’m focusing on.”