All of the candidates who’ve reported fundraising in the Democratic primary for New York’s Third Congressional District said they’re staying in the race — whatever the new boundaries look like.
Alessandra Biaggi was the last among them to make the commitment. Biaggi jumped in the race when the map adopted in Feb. stretched north to include her Westchester village.
In the day since that the state appeals court tossed the newly redrawn House maps for egregious gerrymandering, Long Islanders Josh Lafazan, Robert Zimmerman, Jon Kaiman, Melanie D’Arrigo and Reema Rasool stated they’re still running for the seat.
Biaggi and her team didn’t respond to multiple NY1 requests for comment, then issued a statement Thursday evening.
“I am the most experienced, qualified, and committed candidate in NY-3, and I am staying in this race,” she said.
The race isn’t the only election thrown into uncertainty now that new maps are due in late May.
New York’s 11th Congressional District, represented by Republican Nicole Malliotakis and encompassing all of Staten Island, had been redrawn by Democrats to include more liberal parts of Brooklyn. That map is scrapped.
“It was the right thing for the courts to do, because it was a clear violation of the State Constitution and the will of the voters,” Malliotakis told NY1. “The Democrats chose to blatantly gerrymander the districts is a very gross that it was just a slap in the face of the voters who said they want nonpartisan lines.”
Max Rose, the Democrat hoping to face off against Malliotakis for the seat he held before her, projected confidence.
“I’m going to win whatever the lines end up being. And our campaign will never stop focusing on making our city and country more affordable, safe and fair,” he said in a statement.
Rose first has to win his primary, likely postponed until Aug. from June. His Working Families Party-backed opponent is Brittany Ramos DeBarros.
“We started this race believing that we have to be prepared to win no matter what the circumstances are, because those things are out of our control,” she told NY1. “And that’s why we started early, that’s why we’ve always had an outreach- and engagement-heavy campaign.”
The likely-to-be-reshuffled primary election calendar could mean even more chaos for the third district currently represented by Democrat Tom Suozzi, who was vacating the seat to run for governor.
If the gubernatorial primary is in June and the congressional one in August, he could a candidate in both.
Suozzi and his campaign did not return NY1’s requests for comment on his plans.