Nadler Ousts Maloney In Newly Redrawn N.Y. House District

Topline

Rep. Jerry Nadler won the Democratic primary for a new Manhattan-based House district on Tuesday, defeating Rep. Carolyn Maloney in a heated contest that pitted two longtime lawmakers and former political allies against each other.

Key Facts

The Associated Press called the Democratic primary for the 12th Congressional District for Nadler at 9:38 p.m., with 59% of ballots counted.

Nadler, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, led decisively with 55.9% of the vote, followed by Maloney, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, at 24.2%, while attorney Suraj Patel trailed with 18.9% of the vote.

Key Background

Nadler and Maloney were forced to run against each other after a court-appointed expert redrew New York’s congressional map earlier this year, placing Nadler’s stronghold on Manhattan’s West Side and Maloney’s hub on the East Side within the same district. Both lawmakers have served together in the House since the early 1990s and are ideologically aligned on most issues, and in the campaign’s early weeks, they appeared to lament their newfound status as political foes. But Maloney and Nadler began to clash as the election drew nearer: Nadler has criticized Maloney’s previous skepticism of vaccines and pointed to his votes against the Iraq War and the Patriot Act, both of which Maloney voted for in the early 2000s, while Maloney has cast herself as a more tenacious advocate for her district and reportedly questioned Nadler’s health in private comments. Meanwhile, 38-year-old Patel—who previously challenged Maloney in the 2018 and 2020 Democratic primaries—has taken aim at both incumbents and argued the district needs new leadership.

Tangent

The 12th District isn’t the only New York House seat to host an acrimonious primary battle this year. New York’s highest court blocked a congressional map drawn by Democrats due to partisan gerrymandering concerns, and a judge later approved a map drawn by an independent expert, throwing multiple races into disarray. The new 10th District—which covers Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn—has drawn a long list of Democratic candidates, including attorney Dan Goldman, state legislator Yuh-Line Niou, city councilor Carlina Rivera and Rep. Mondaire Jones (who moved to the district from north of New York City). And in the 17th District, which covers some of New York City’s northern suburbs and the Hudson Valley, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney is facing off against progressive challenger Alessandra Biaggi.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2022/08/23/democratic-allies-turned-rivals-nadler-ousts-maloney-in-newly-redrawn-ny-house-district/