New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Blames Inaccuracies In New Census Following Loss Of Congressional Seat

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New York was 89 people short of withholding its 27 congressional districts and Cuomo Blames The Trump administration, according to The Western Journal.

Cuomo said, “Census takers in New York faced unprecedented challenges last year in their efforts to get New Yorkers counted — from the pandemic’s effect on the mail system to the Trump Administration’s xenophobic, flagrant, and illegal efforts to hurt blue states by discouraging non-citizens and people of color from being counted.”

“[W]e won’t allow Trump and his cronies to use one of our greatest attributes — our diversity — as an impediment.”

“I’m calling on the Attorney General to review all legal options available to ensure the voice of every New Yorker is fairly and wholly represented in the halls of Congress.”

Bill de Blasio said, “For God’s sake, if the state had invested in the Census, could you have found 89 more people to count? Sure, easily.”

“This was a lost opportunity by the state government to get the count right.”

Julie Menin stated, “The state was simply M.I.A. “The governor and the state simply did not want to prioritize the census.”

Nick Langworthy said, “To have one less member of Congress, to have one less electoral vote, that makes our voice that much smaller.”

“Do I think it was accurate to within 89? No, and we’re looking at legal options,” Cuomo stated.

“You had people who were nervous to come forward … you had undocumented people who were nervous to come forward.”

“I do believe the federal government had a chilling effect.”

From The Western Journal:

But as Cuomo blamed Trump, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Cuomo has no one to blame but himself.

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Cuomo said he would fight the Census.

But above all, it was Trump’s fault, he said.

“You had people who were nervous to come forward … you had undocumented people who were nervous to come forward,” he said. “I do believe the federal government had a chilling effect.”

New York, California, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia will each lose one seat. Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Oregon and Montana will gain one seat. Texas will pick up two seats.

New York’s redistricting process starts with an independent commission, but if the panel — evenly divided among Republicans and Democrats — fails to reach a decision, the new lines will be drawn by the state Legislature, which is solidly in the hands of Democrats.

That could alter the balance of power within the state, which currently sends 19 Democrats and eight Republicans to Congress based on 2010 district lines drawn when the top still had control of the state Senate.

Langworthy said seats held by the GOP will be targeted.

“They’re going to try to gut these districts across the state,” he said, according to The Times. “Mapmakers can be very vicious.”