Gounardes: Golden Ignoring Redistricting Problem

Republican State Senator Marty Golden’s Democratic challenger Andrew Gounardes sent out a press release yesterday criticizing Golden for not playing a more aggressive role in the redistricting process.

Bay Ridge Odyssey pointed out an article in Politicker debuting a new district map put out by the New York Senate. The proposed map looks very similar to a previously rejected version.

The initial proposals submitted by both the Democrat-controlled Assembly and Republican-controlled Senate had been criticized as being gerrymandered, with a federal judge being brought in to oversee the process.

Gounardes seized the opportunity to criticize Golden for keeping quiet on the subject, accusing the senator of offering a sort of silent consent for the proposal, despite having signed the Ed Koch pledge to back non-partisan redistricting.

One look at the ‘Marty Golden Gerrymander’ and it’s obvious that redistricting has become a circus. Over and over, we get lines that break up communities and are drawn for the sake of political gain, not voters’ interests. My rule is: if it’s broke, fix it. Marty’s rule seems to be: if it’s broke, change the subject. Instead of claiming that he has no say in the matter, Marty Golden should keep his promise to his constituents and use his position in the Republican leadership to to enact real independent redistricting. People are tired of the same old politics as usual, and if he decides to break his promise, every voter in this district will know that when Marty Golden signs his name to a piece of paper, it’s worthless.

Check out Bay Ridge Odyssey for more, including some additional quotes from the Gounardes campaign.