With news that Republican congresswoman Elise Stefanik is very likely to replace Liz Cheney as GOP conference chair next week, will New York Democrats be tempted to use redistricting as a tool to try to end Stefanik’s congressional career?
On one hand, taking out a member of Republican leadership could be awfully tempting to Democrats. On the other hand, New York could benefit from having bipartisan representation in congressional leadership, and Dave Wasserman of the Cook Political Report makes the case that Democrats would maximize their advantage in New York by packing as many Republicans as they can into one Upstate New York congressional district:
In this hypothetical Dem gerrymander, Stefanik's house would be in #NY19 and Rep. Claudia Tenney (R)'s house would be in #NY22, but they'd have to battle it out in a #NY21 GOP primary to have much chance of survival (and Stefanik would be heavily favored). pic.twitter.com/T80B44O9ms
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) May 5, 2021
Stefanik was first elected in 2014 and dubbed “a new Republican star” by Donald Trump during his first impeachment in 2019. If redistricting forced Stefanik to compete in a primary with freshman Republican Claudia Tenney, Stefanik would be a shoo-in.