The majority parties in the Senate and Assembly have both proposed to eliminate the district of retiring Rep. Maurice Hinchey, but don’t agree on where to cut a second seat.
Assembly Democrats and Senate Republicans will file separate plans today for carving the state into 27 congressional districts. The state will have two fewer congressional districts in 2013 than it currently has because its population is growing at a slower pace that other states.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Silver said the Assembly’s map will split up Hinchey’s district, distributing his constituents to neighboring districts. The district currently stretches from the Southern Tier to the Hudson Valley, including the cities of Ithaca, Poughkeepsie and Binghamton.
Hinchey, a Democrat from Hurley, Ulster County, earlier this year announced his plan to retire at the end of his term.
“It’s obvious the Hinchey district is one,” Silver said. “We’re not eliminating, but we obviously have to consolidate some districts.”
Senate Republicans, meanwhile, will propose to eliminate the seats of Hinchey and Rep. Gary Ackerman, Senate GOP officials said. Ackerman is a Democrat whose district includes parts of Queens and Nassau County. (Hinchey’s is the 22nd Congressional District in the map at left, which is of the current districts. Ackermans is the 5th Congressional District.)
The Senate GOP plan would keep 44 counties whole, according to the officials, who did not specify which counties were included.
