ALBANY - January 26, 2026

The appeal, filed January 26, challenges a ruling issued Friday, January 23, by State Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Pearlman, who found that the Staten Island–based 11th Congressional District was drawn in violation of the state constitution. The district is currently represented by Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican.

In his January 23 decision, Pearlman concluded that the district’s boundaries diluted the voting power of Black and Latino communities by pairing Staten Island with portions of southern Brooklyn. He ordered New York’s Independent Redistricting Commission to submit a revised congressional map by February 6, 2026.

Republicans filed appeals on Monday to both an intermediate appellate court and the New York Court of Appeals, seeking to overturn the ruling and halt the map-drawing process. It remains unclear when the appeals courts will hear the case or whether the February 6 deadline will be delayed.

The lawsuit was brought by Democratic-aligned election law attorneys, who argued that the 11th District should instead be paired with part of Lower Manhattan. Under that proposal, the Brooklyn neighborhoods currently included in the district would be shifted into the adjacent 10th District, represented by Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman. Because the 10th District is heavily Democratic, the change could alter the political balance of the 11th ahead of the midterms.

New York currently sends 19 Democrats and seven Republicans to the U.S. House. Malliotakis’ seat is the only Republican-held district within New York City, making it a focal point in the broader contest for control of the House.

The case also revisits unresolved tensions from New York’s last redistricting cycle. The congressional maps now in effect were enacted by Democrats in the state Legislature after lawmakers rejected a proposal from the state’s bipartisan redistricting commission. In that cycle, the Court of Appeals rejected maps viewed as favoring Democrats and ordered a court-appointed expert to redraw them.

Nationally, the New York ruling comes amid renewed redistricting efforts across several states outside the traditional 10-year cycle. Former President Donald Trump urged Republican-led states last year to pursue new congressional maps to protect the GOP’s narrow House majority, prompting counter-moves by Democrats in states including California and Virginia.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, whose Brooklyn district borders the 11th, praised the January 23 ruling, saying it moved the state closer to a fairer map. State Republican leaders criticized the decision, arguing that long-standing district lines were being dismantled through a partisan legal challenge.

For now, the fate of New York City’s only Republican congressional district remains uncertain, with the next developments expected to hinge on how quickly the state’s appeals courts act in the days ahead.