Back in the day, Queesnbury Congressman Gerald Solomon used to proudly accept the moniker of “‘the Congressman from General Electric.”

In today’s Adirondack Almanack, Mark Wilson is asking — tongue firmly in cheek –whether NCPR will soon “have its own Congressional district” under a new redistricting plan released this week.

Wilson points out that the proposed 21st congressional district closely matches the broadcast area of North Country Public Radio.

In fact, the maps are so closely aligned, one would be hard-pressed to find another Congressional district (not counting Vermont and other single district states) where a single broadcaster has such identical and unrivaled coverage.

If nothing else, this convergence of maps raises a clear question to Bill Owens, Matt Doheny and (potentially) Doug Hoffman: Is your membership paid up?

I’m tempted to make a joke about Super PACs and this month’s big NCPR membership drive…but no.

Check out Mark’s NCPR-NY21 map here.

A major political fight is brewing over state Senate and Assembly district lines drawn up by politicians in Albany as part of the census-redistricting process.

Critics, including Governor Andrew Cuomo, described the political map released last month as biased in favor of protecting incumbents.

A court challenge is all but certain and the LATFOR commission hasn’t even released congressional boundaries yet.

The Watertown Daily Times is reporting today on what all that uncertainty means for candidates hoping to jump into races.

“I can’t imagine anybody who’s considering a serious run for any legislative seat in the state of New York not weighing the issue of redistricting,” said Brian S. McGrath, a Lewis County Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for the Assembly in 2010 and won’t run again this year.

“Frankly, it’s probably the No. 1 consideration for most people contemplating runs at the moment. It was without question at the top of the list of things I was discussing with people in Albany when weighing my political future.”

Because potential challengers don’t know what districts will look like (or, in some cases, whether old districts will even still exist) it’s difficult to fundraise, build political networks, or secure petitions to get on the ballot.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking, with the primary election for House races set for just five months away.

For the last decade, state Senator Betty Little from Queensbury has been the dominant political force in the Adirondack Park.  The redistricting plan unveiled yesterday expands her Park coverage into southern St. Lawrence County.

But it also lops off a huge chunk of terrain in Hamilton County.  (Phil Brown at the Adirondack Explorer has mapped her change really well here.)

More interesting yet, the redistricting plan consolidates the “non-Betty Little” chunk of the Park under the purview of another Republican state Senator, Hugh Farley, who was born in Watertown and grew up in Indian Lake.  (See his new map here.)

Farley spoke yesterday with the Glens Falls Post Star.

Guess what? I’ve got my hometown back,” exclaimed Farley, an Indian Lake native, after the maps became public. “I’m delighted.”

In the past, the small, disparate chunks of the Park not represented by Little were divided between four other state Senators.  That left her as the main voice for the Park.

In an interview yesterday, Little pointed out that she will still represent the main population centers inside the Blue Line.

But Farley will also now hold a single consolidated chunk of terrain — Hamilton, Herkimer, Fulton, and a chunk of Saratoga County — that includes a much bigger and more consolidated piece of the Park’s geography and population.

It remains to be seen whether Farley, a Republican who has served in the state Senate since 1976, will emerge as a major player in Park policy debates.

(Ellen Rocco asked a good question:  What do the district lines look like now?  To see what the maps look like before these proposed changes, go here.)

New maps are being released at this hour from the legislature’s LATFOR committee.  They include dramatic changes for parts of the North Country, while other areas are left largely untouched.

ASSEMBLY:

The biggest change is for St. Lawrence County, which will now be divided between three Assembly districts, including the new 117th district which will stretch all the way to southern Herkimer and Fulton County.

Also, Teresa Sayward will lose Hamilton County, picking up more of Washington County.

STATE SENATE:

Another big change:  Hamilton County would be stripped out of state Senator Betty Little’s district.  A new 49th Senate district would be created that would include a big chunk of the central, western and southern Adirondacks.

Little’s district will expand to take up a big chunk of St. Lawrence County.

These are only proposals.  There will now be hearings and a political process to determine final lines, but this blueprint will be hugely influential.  Tune in for more during All Before 5 at 4:45pm.

You can view all the proposed redistricting maps here:
http://www.latfor.state.ny.us/maps/

According to the Albany Times-Union, political maps for the state’s Assembly, state Senate and congressional districts should be public today.  Already, the lines that have been leaked are sparking outrage, particularly from Democrats who see the effort as a way to gerrymander enough seats to preserve a GOP majority.

This from the New York Daily News.

The state Senate GOP majority wants to merge four Queens districts currently held by Democrats into two — and one is held by the chair of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee.

Michael Gianaris, whose position makes him a main architect of Democratic campaign strategy in the Senate, would face a reelection dogfight against a Latino incumbent, Jose Peralta, in a heavily Latino district, sources said.

The other tough-luck draw for Democrats would pit longtime Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky against freshman Tony Avella, the sources added.

Along with the creation of a new state Senate district in the Albany area – one designed to favor a likely GOP candidate — that could lock in Republican control of the Senate for years to come.  More soon….

The biggest unwritten story in New York state right now is the district lines that a legislative task force has been drawing up — a new political roadmap that could shake up North Country politics.

Now Jimmy Vielkind at the Times-Union is saying we won’t see their draft until tomorrow.  (Some folks say lines may still come this afternoon.)

Redistricting could shake up Assembly, state Senate and Congressional districts.  Currently, the big news is speculation that Republicans in the state Senate might try to hold onto power by creating a new Senate seat in the Albany region.

So…more to come.

Common Cause New York, the political reform group that is pushing for more coherent political boundaries, has unveiled a series of maps that would bring big changes to the North Country.

The maps are unlikely to be enacted in their current form as the redistricting process continues, but Common Cause is hugely influential (check out Karen DeWitt’s story today).

Governor Cuomo says he wants a plan developed by some kind of independent group.  So here’s a first look at how CC NY’s plan would play out here in our back yard.

CONGRESS

Under the group’s proposal, all of the North Country would be grouped under a single massive congressional district, based largely on the 23rd district now held by Democrat Bill Owens of Plattsburgh.  (Check out the map here.)

But the long finger of political geography in the southwestern Adirondacks now held by Republican Richard Hanna (NY-24)  — whose district includes the area around Old Forge — would be sliced off.

So too would the long tendril of turf held by Republican Chris Gibson (NY-20) — whose district includes chunks of Essex, Warren and Washington counties — get the axe.

According to this map, a single lawmaker would represent more or less the entire Adirondack-North Country, from just north of the Mohawk Valley to the Canadian border, from Lake Ontario to Lake Champlain.

STATE SENATE

Common Cause’s plan for the state Senate would still have the region divided unevenly between three districts, but the changes would be profound for Senators Patty Ritchie and Joe Griffo, two Republicans on the western side of our region.

Most of their districts would be merged into a single big chunk.  This is the kind of political match-up that political parties loathe, because it would pit two incumbents against each other.

Sen. Betty Little’s district in the east wouldn’t change all that much.  It would grow by pushing southward.

There would also be third, much smaller slice that would connect Herkmier County to a state Senate seat based in the Mohawk valley, so one chunk of the North Country would be pulled into a significantly different geographic orbit.

But that may make sense for a lot of voters in that region, who head south for shopping, services, etc.

STATE ASSEMBLY

The impact on Assembly seats, if Common Cause’s plan were adopted, would be profound.  Completely gone would be the so-called River District, the 118th, which stretches along the St. Lawrence River through Jefferson and St. Lawrence Counties.

Franklin County would be divided between two Assembly districts, with the northern half of the county lumped in with most of St. Lawrence County.

The northern half of Essex County would be lumped in with big sections of Franklin and Clinton Counties.

Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward’s district would push south into Washington County.

IS THIS REALISTIC

No one expects Common Cause NY’s plan to be adopted wholesale.  But there is growing pressure on lawmakers to adopt a district plan that is far less gerrymandered than in the past.

And with shifts in demographics, this set of maps gives some sense of how big the changes might be for our region.

Look the maps over and chime in.  Do you think this is a good road map for our political future?  Do you see big problems?  Comments welcome.