New State Senate lines look to move at least one Nassau incumbent out of district

 OLD SENATE MAP AND NEW SENATE MAP

                                                                              

State Senate Districts before 2022 redistricting

 

                                                                                  

                                    New  State Senate Districts proposed by special master

Other than a few tweaks, it's likely that the new State Senate lines proposed by New York's special master become final tomorrow, despite complaints from some activists.

The new lines appear to shut at least one Nassau Democratic incumbent senator out of his current District: State Sen. John Brooks of Seaford represents the old 8th district, which straddled the county line across the South Shore of Nassau and Suffolk.

John Brooks

But the new District 8 cuts out Seaford, moving east from the Massapequa's and Farmingdale into Suffolk communities of Amityville and Copaigue.

The new District 8 lines also eliminate Freeport and Roosevelt, whose voters clinched then freshman Brook's re-election in 2018 to a second-term.

The new District 8 also eliminates Bellmore, where Republican Nassau Legis. Steve Rhoads lives.

Steve Rhoads

Under the old lines, Rhoads was challenging Brooks for the District 8 seat. Now they are both in in District 6, the new minority district in Nassau.

The new District 6 includes minority communities of Hempstead Village, Roosevelt, Freeport and Lakeview  as well as Republican-leaning Merrick, Bellmore, Seaford and Wantagh. 

It is not clear if State Sen. Kevin Thomas, a Levittown Democrat, is still in District 6 because the new district only includes a southern portion of Levittown.

Thomas probably hopes he still is in 6 because District 5, which now includes most of Levittown, appears very Republican, running from North Oyster Bay town, through Hicksville and into Levittown.

Republican Jim Coll, of Levittown, who is challenging Thomas, is in new District 5.

Minority activists complain that the new lines dilute the minority vote.

The minority communities of Elmont and Valley Stream are in the new District 9, which runs south through Island Park to Long Beach and the Five Towns. 

But portions of those communities were in the old District 9, won in the past by State Sen.Todd Kaminsky, a Long Beach Democrat, who is not seeking re-election this year.

District 7, represented by Great Neck Democrat Anna Kaplan, is pretty much the same, but it no longer includes a portion of Elmont.

That part of Elmont helped Kaplan beat Republican incumbent State Sen.Elaine Phillips of Flower Hill in 2018.

It's also not clear whether parties change their current candidates because of the new boundaries.

Because of the redistricting, incumbents this year do not need to live in their district to run for re-election; they only need be a resident of the county that includes all or part of the district, according to Republican elections lawyer John Ciampoli.

But unlike members of Congress, state law requires senators to move into their new district one year prior to the next election, he said.

Except for re-apportionment every ten years, he said, a state senate candidate must have lived in the state for five years and be a resident of the district for one year prior to an election.