Yates will be part of 24th district

Yates will be part of 24th district

YATES COUNTY--Yates County will no longer be part of the 23rd Congressional District and now instead will become part of the 24th district under new maps that were recently released for New York.
Yates will now join with Cayuga, Genesee, Livingston, Ontario, Oswego, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming Counties as well as portions of Jefferson, Niagara, and Orleans Counties. Previously, the 23rd district included all of Seneca and Keuka Lake as well as Ithaca as the boundary continued south to Pennsylvania and west to Lake Erie.
While the shift inherently represents a change in representation, a new congressmember was already a reality facing Yates as Tom Reed, the last Congressman elected to represent the 23rd District, has already resigned.
The New York redistricting process is one that has been met with significant challenges. The Independent Redistricting Commission, which was tasked to produce bipartisan district lines, failed to do so and as a result, the legislature implemented its own plan. After they were approved by the Democratic supermajority, a lawsuit was filed in Steuben County to challenge the maps that were gerrymandered. The court found the lines were, "unconstitutionally drawn with political bias." The court then utilized expert Jonathan Cervas to redraw the maps and allow more districts to be competitive for both Republicans and Democrats.
The Census, most recently conducted in 2020, leads to reexamining population distribution and necessitates adjusting districts to include equal numbers of citizens. As it stands, the 24th district is represented by John Katko, R-Camillus, who has already announced that he will not seek reelection.
Yates County Administrator Nonie Flynn said that while Yates is now in a new district, Yates residents, the majority of which are Republican, will most likely continue to have Republican representation in Congress.
With redistricting announcements coming so close to primaries many candidates have had to scramble to adjust to running in a new district.
According to the New York Board of Elections, in the August primary, Democrat Steven Holden will run for congress in the 24th as will Republicans Claudia Tenney, Mario Fratto and George Phillips. Tenney, who currently represents the 22nd District of New York in Congress, was forced to adjust and run in the 24th District when the district lines were redrawn.
Tenney has already been endorsed by former President Donald Trump and Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik.