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EXCLUSIVE: The lone House Republican representing part of New York City is facing a redistricting threat, and she has vowed to defeat it.
“The Democrats have absolutely zero shame,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital. “This is the third time they are trying to redraw our district, to tilt the scale and change the rules to give their party an advantage because they just cannot — they cannot — tolerate a Republican representing the city of New York.”
Malliotakis represents New York’s 11th Congressional District, which covers all of Staten Island and parts of south Brooklyn. She won her seat in 2020, defeating one-term former Rep. Max Rose, D-N.Y., who was elected in the “blue wave” of 2018.
The Empire State was thrown into the national redistricting war last week when Democrat attorney Marc Elias’ law firm filed a suit aimed at changing the boundaries of Malliotakis’ district.
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Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., leaves a caucus meeting with House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 10, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The lawsuit argued that the existing district dilutes the voting power of Staten Island’s growing Black and Latino voting populations, allegedly running afoul of minority protections in the New York Voting Rights Act.
“This lawsuit is so frivolous, it has absolutely no merit. It has absolutely no legal, valid argument,” Malliotakis said.
The New York City Republican pointed to her own non-White roots, being born to a Cuban mother exiled by the communist Fidel Castro regime. Her father is from Greece.
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“The fact that they’re claiming somehow Hispanics and minorities are disenfranchised when I’m the first Hispanic elected to represent the district makes it even more ridiculous,” she said.
Democratic lawyer Marc Elias seen on an episode of CBS program “60 Minutes.” (Screenshot/CBS)
“It’s unfortunate that this will take time and resources to fight once again in court, but we will do that because the people of New York’s 11th district deserve to elect the person that they want, not who Washington Democrats think they want.”
The district has largely skewed Republican in recent elections, voting for President Donald Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024. Trump has already endorsed Malliotakis for re-election.
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Voters in New York’s 11th Congressional District did elect former President Barack Obama in 2012, however, and went in favor of Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., in 2016 and 2018, respectively. The district voted for Republicans for Senate in 2022 and 2024.
But the lawsuit comes as both Republicans and Democrats wage full-throated efforts to gerrymander congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
A tugboat and barge in upper New York Bay with Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge and Staten Island in the background, New York City, New York. (Bruce Punger/GHI/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Texas recently adopted a new map that more heavily favors Republicans, while voters in California are set to weigh whether to allow its Democrat-dominated legislature to redraw districts there to help the left.
The White House has also pushed Missouri and Indiana, among other states, to also press for more GOP advantages.
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North Carolina Republicans approved a new map last month aimed at unseating moderate Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C.
Meanwhile, Maryland Democrats recently backed off threats to draw the state’s own lone Republican, Rep. Andy Harris, D-Md., out of his seat.
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