A group of Republicans filed a formal appeal Tuesday to an appellate court's ruling earlier this month that ordered New York's congressional lines be redrawn by the state's redistricting commission. 

The appeal sets up what could be a key showdown in New York's top court, the state Court of Appeals, in the coming weeks. The outcome could ultimately determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives, now narrowly led by Republicans. 

Democrats scored a victory in July with the Appellate Court ruling that found the boundaries for New York's U.S. House districts should be redrawn by the Independent Redistricting Commission, a panel composed of appointees of both parties.

Democrats had hailed the ruling; Republicans vowed to fight to the highest court in the state. 

A deadlocked redistricting commission could once again throw the process to the state Legislature, which is controlled by Democratic supermajorities. 

Last year, New York's top court sided with a Republican-backed lawsuit that led to the lines being drawn by a special master appointed by a lower-court judge. 

New York is home to multiple battleground districts and Republican victories in the Hudson Valley and New York City metropolitan region helped the party win a majority in the House of Representatives last year.