New York State
New York congressional candidates who are new in town
They either don’t live in the districts they’re running to represent – or didn’t until very recently.
Many congressional candidates asking for your vote in 2022 can’t even vote for themselves – because they don’t live in the district where they’re running. City & State
Many congressional candidates asking for your vote in 2022 can’t even vote for themselves – because they don’t live in the district where they’re running. Members of Congress are only required to live in the state, not the district, so there have always been those who don’t reside where they run. But this year’s redistricting brouhaha has led to a few carpetbaggers – and more than a dozen candidates running far away from the address they provided the Board of Elections.
It shouldn’t be hard to find candidates when 777,000 people live in each district. But at least when it comes to the incumbents, some claimed they were left with no choice, after the state’s highest court struck down the maps passed by the Democratic state Legislature.
“The residency question related to any congressional candidate in New York state is best answered by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore and the renegade, out-of-control Court of Appeals majority,” a spokesperson for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries told City & State.
Rented a moving van
Mondaire Jones, 10th District
Instead of running against a fellow Democratic incumbent in his old Westchester County home, Jones relocated four districts down to Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, in early June.
Alessandra Biaggi, 17th District
After years in Pelham, Biaggi bought a house in North Castle, in Westchester County – moving in late July to the district to run, just like her opponent Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney did 10 years before.
Matt Castelli, 21st District
One of the Democrats hoping to take down Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik lived in Saratoga Springs, but relocated north to Glens Falls this year.
Outside the lines
Nydia Velázquez, 7th District
La Luchadora used to live across the street from her district, in Red Hook. After redistricting, she lives a few neighborhoods away – but her challenger Paperboy Prince is outside the district too.
Hakeem Jeffries, 8th District
Nobody was more outspoken in criticizing the redistricting process – maybe because his Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, home ended up a block and a half outside his district.
Carlina Rivera, 10th District
The New York City Council member talks about spending her whole life in the lower Manhattan district – but last year, she moved to Kips Bay, about eight blocks north of the boundary.
Desi Cuellar and Tina Forte, 14th District
Neither of the Republicans trying to unseat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can count on their own vote – both live outside the district.
Vedat Gashi 16th District
The Westchester County legislator hoping to take down Rep. Jamaal Bowman isn’t represented by him, since he lives miles north in Yorktown.
Marc Molinaro, 19th District
The Dutchess County executive’s Hudson Valley home is covered in the August special – but the new district means he’s outside the lines for the November general.
Paul Tonko, 20th District
Amsterdam, New York, is a lot closer to the Democrat’s Capital Region district than Amsterdam in Holland – but it’s still outside the lines.
Elise Stefanik, 21st District
The Republican rabble-rouser saw her Schuylerville home drawn into the Capital Region district – but has decided to stick with her own North Country seat instead.
Carl Paladino and Nick Langworthy, 23rd District
Neither of the GOP foes live in the sprawling Southern Tier district – but neither does the Democrat waiting for them in November, Max Della Pia.
Claudia Tenney, 24th District
Claudia Tenney needs to drive at least an hour to get to this district from her home outside Utica, but many of her opponents are out-of-towners too, including Republican George Phillips, who lives in Endicott, and Democrat Steve Holden, who, like Tenney, lives in the 22nd District.
NEXT STORY: Got complaints about the draft City Council map? The Districting Commission wants to hear them.