Nicole Malliotakis seeks Supreme Court help against Dems’ NY map redraw

New York City’s only Republican lawmaker in the House of Representatives is asking the nation’s highest court to stop a Democratic-backed attempt to gerrymander his congressional seat.

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., filed a petition with the Supreme Court late last week asking it to stop a state court-ordered redrawing of New York’s congressional map ahead of the November midterm elections.

The New York State Supreme Court ruled last month that Malliotakis’ district unfairly diluted the power of Black and Latino voters, following a lawsuit led by Democratic lawyer Marc Elias’s office on behalf of four New York residents.

New York’s 11th Congressional District (NY-11), won by Malliotakis in 2020, encompasses all of Staten Island and part of South Brooklyn. It’s the only Big Apple district represented by a Republican after Malliotakis defeated former Rep. Max Rose, D-N.Y.

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Rep. Nicole Malliotakis is asking the Supreme Court to stop efforts by New York Democrats to redraw her congressional seat. (Andrew Harnik/Getty; Drew Angerer/Getty)

Malliotakis’ petition argued that the Manhattan court “violated the Equal Protection Clause by prohibiting New York from holding congressional elections until the state racially gerrymanders” his district.

The Republican congresswoman noted in a recent interview with Fox News Digital that she herself is Latin American and that her mother fled the Cuban communist regime.

“The fact that they are claiming that Hispanics and minorities are being disenfranchised when I am the first elected Hispanic to represent the district makes it even more ridiculous,” Malliotakis said at the time.

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Judge Jeffrey Pearlman’s state court ruling found that “the political representation and political participation of Black, Latino, and Asian Staten Islanders continues to lag behind White Staten Islanders,” in violation of the New York State Constitution.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill November 3, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)

“A manifestation of racial polarization shows that the minority groups in question vote as a bloc, just like white voters, and that minority-preferred candidates ‘generally’ lose,” Pearlman’s ruling states. “Petitioners have demonstrated it here.”

Malliotakis’ petition to the Supreme Court said: “The New York State Legislature adopted the current CD11 limits two years ago, with an overwhelming majority of Black and Latino members of the Legislature voting in favor. »

He argued that the lawsuit, however, was filed “less than four months ago based on the theory that the votes of CD11’s Black and Latino voters — who make up about 23 percent of CD11 — have been unconstitutionally diluted because their candidate of choice wins only 25 percent of the time.”

The petition says the court’s decision to “racially gerrymander” the district is a “recipe for unconstitutional chaos, with no map in place and uncertainty over whether nominating petitions can begin circulating on February 24, with no end in sight.”

But Democrats are salivating at the prospect of ousting the lone Republican from the House of Representatives in this deep blue city.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a statement last month: “This decision is the first step in ensuring that communities of interest remain intact from Staten Island to Lower Manhattan. »

New York is one of several states embroiled in the redistricting battle gripping the United States.

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It started last year in Texas, when the Republican-led legislature redrew the congressional map to give Republicans an advantage of up to five new House seats.

California quickly followed suit, creating a new map giving Democrats the same advantage.