Finding Ulysses

A federal court has decided on a map of congressional districts for New York state. The map will go into effect next year, which means that this year’s elections will be for seats to represent the new districts.

Given that the state legislature wasn’t involved in drawing the district lines, gerrymandering was kept to a minimum. We won’t be the southwestern corner of a twisted district that includes part of the Adirondacks any more.

Here’s a map of the new districts – as you can see, we’re in district 23, which includes all of Tompkins County and stretches across the Southern Tier all the way to New York’s westernmost border. Schuyler and Seneca County are included in the district as well, so no longer will people in the larger Trumansburg community have to wonder whether their friends are represented by the same politician in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The good news is that Trumansburg will no longer be represented by Republican Richard Hanna. The bad news is that the incumbent in the new congressional district will be Tom Reed, a right wing Republican whose politics are not in touch with Tburg values.

Democrats running against Tom Reed are Leslie Danks Burke, a lawyer who serves as the chair of the Town of Ithaca Democratic Committee, and Nate Shinagawa, a member of the Tompkins County legislature.