Monday’s Supreme Court ruling overturning a state court order to redraw the 11th Congressional District seat could have major implications for New York’s Congressional makeup.
It was a rare win for Republicans in a critical midterm election cycle in which Democrats are hoping to win big in the House of Representatives and Senate. U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican, holds the 11th District seat covering southern Brooklyn and all of Staten Island – and with the lines staying the same, it makes her chances of being re-elected in November far easier.
The proposed map that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected would have transferred the southern Brooklyn portion into New York’s 10th District, which Democrat Rep. Dan Goldman (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn) represents. That could have allowed Goldman a chance to flip the district with a new bloc of left-leaning Manhattan voters.
Instead, Goldman, facing a Democratic primary challenge from the left by former City Comptroller Brad Lander, will now be forced to fight it out in his own district rather than maximize Democrats’ dominance over the city by challenging Malliotakis in District 11.
Monday’s ruling kicked the primary race into the spotlight once more after weeks of waiting for more clarity of what the contest’s makeup would actually be. Ben Max, the executive editor and program director at the Center for New York City and State Law, said that the ruling “confirms to near certainty” that the 10th district race will see a faceoff between Lander and Goldman.
“It lets everybody focus in for the final months of the primary on that one-on-one primary,” Max said. “I think the fundamentals of the 10th district race are the same as long as this is going to be the race.”
Goldman vs. Lander in 10th District primary
Before the ruling, Goldman had floated the possibility of running in the 11th District should the lines be redrawn in Democrats’ favor. Both Lander and Goldman acknowledged the ruling on Monday in posts to X, reaffirming their respective ambitions for the district.
“I look forward to earning re-election to enact a bold, progressive agenda, defend our democracy, & hold Trump accountable,” Goldman wrote. “Others may talk a big game, but I can’t wait to keep doing the work on behalf of NY.”
Lander, criticizing the 6-3 court ruling that split along partisan lines, bemoaned the loss to Democrats but said he was ready to keep up the fight against Goldman.
“Once again the MAGA Supreme Court justices have put partisan politics over impartial justice,” Lander wrote in a post to X. “But now the race for NY-10 is set. We’re up against an AIPAC-aligned multi-millionaire who bought his seat and we’re building a people’s movement to take it back.”
Lander pitched his primary challenge to Goldman in December. Throughout his campaign, he has focused on his opposition to the war in Gaza, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and President Donald Trump, looking to characterize himself as a fighter for New Yorkers under an “authoritarian” federal government.
His support from Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who cross-endorsed Lander in the June 2025 ranked-choice Democratic primary for mayor, has propelled his popularity in the 10th District, which swung heavily for Mamdani in the primary and the general election. Like Mamdani, Lander has made the affordability crisis a key factor in his campaign.
“Lander needs to raise more money, and he needs to develop more of a convincing case about why Goldman does not deserve reelection,” Max said. “Goldman needs to prove to a lot of voters in this district that he really does have the progressive values that clearly dominate in this district.”
In a further statement to amNewYork, Goldman said he looks forward to “earning re-election to enact a truly bold, progressive agenda, make New York City more affordable for working families, defend our democracy and the rule of law, and hold Donald Trump and his cronies accountable for their lawlessness.”
Goldman and Lander have both shown strong opposition to Trump and his immigration agenda.
ICE has arrested Lander twice at 26 Federal Plaza — first in June 2025 and later in September — while he was observing immigration proceedings and escorting immigrants to and from their hearings. Goldman has helped lead legislation in Congress to ban ICE agents from wearing identity-concealing masks while on the job and to ban ICE from making arrests in immigration courts.
The two diverge in their stances on Israel and its war in Gaza.
Lander, who was staunchly against the war, identifies himself as a liberal Zionist — supportive of the existence of the State of Israel but opposed to its treatment of Palestinians — while Goldman has defended his own “very strong support” for Israel. Goldman has professed his “serious opposition” to the Israeli government, led by conservative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Malliotakis likely to keep beet-red seat
With the boundaries of both districts remaining the same, the 11th District will keep the constituencies that propelled Malliotakis to victory in 2020. That year, she beat out Max Rose, a rare Democratic representative of the right-leaning district, who served only one term.
The Manhattan judge who first ordered the redistricting ruled that the lines disempowered Black and Latino voters — two growing voting blocs in the 11th District — from taking equal part in the selection of candidates, as Black and Latino voters tend to support Democrats.
Malliotakis had filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court asking it to halt the state judge’s ruling, arguing that the redistricting would risk “disenfranchising” voters in her district. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote in Monday’s opinion that the attempt to redraw the district lines “blatantly discriminates on the basis of race.”
Malliotakis celebrated the decision in a Monday statement.
“Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to keep New York’s 11th Congressional District intact helps restore the public’s confidence in our judicial system and proves the challenge to our district lines was always meritless,” Malliotakis said in the statement. “I thank the Justices who stopped the voters on Staten Island and in Southern Brooklyn from being stripped of their ability to elect a representative who reflects their values.”
“Whether I serve another term in Congress is a decision for the voters, not Democrat party bosses and their high-priced lawyers,” she added.
Malliotakis won the district in 2024 with 64% of the vote, dominating Democratic candidate Andrea Morse, who came just short of 36%. President Donald Trump, who ran as the Republican presidential nominee in 2024, won the district with 61% of the vote compared to then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ 37%.
Recent off-season local and state elections across the nation have brought success to Democrats — for Mamdani, New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill, and Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger. Since Trump’s 2024 reelection, state legislative Democrats across the country have flipped 26 seats, while Republicans have flipped none.
On average, Democrats in 2025 benefited from a 13-point swing in their direction in nationwide races when compared to 2204. Were the 11th District to see a similar swing, Malliotakis would likely still prevail, but with a lesser margin of victory.
And the 11th District has flipped from Republican to Democratic control before.
In 2018, the midterm election year during Trump’s first term as President, the 11th District broke for democrats in state elections for Governor, Senate, and Attorney General. Rose, a Democrat, beat out a Republican incumbent for the Congressional seat that same year.
Though Democrats could choose to focus on a challenge to Malliotakis’ seat, it could be politically risky for them to try, Max said. Former City Council Member Justin Brannan (D-Brooklyn), has previously floated the possibility of challenging Malliotakis for her seat come November. Brannan completed his term on City Council at the end of 2025 and previously ran to succeed Lander for comptroller.
“It’s a very big risk to run and lose, potentially, by a wide margin,” Max said, noting that any viable Democratic candidate would likely need to come from outside the traditional Democratic establishment. “I would expect people like Justin Brannan to be very cautious about jumping into a race like this one.”
Brannan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
